The effect of paddy straw and concentrate containing green tea dust on performance and nutrient digestibility in feedlot lambs

Abstract

The utilization of low-input paddy straw hay (PSH) for fattening lambs should be incorporated with a high-quality concentrate(HQC) in which green tea dust (GTD) rich in tannins can be added as a natural feed additive. Completely randomized design was usedto compare 5 doses of GTD inclusions (dry matter, DM basis) at 0% (GTD-0), 0.5% (GTD-0.5), 1% (GTD-1), 1.5% (GTD-1.5), and 2%(GTD-2) in an HQC as the main diet of PSH-fed fattening lambs on average daily gain (ADG, g/head/day), dry matter intake (DMI,g/head/day), and nutrient digestibility (%) using 6 replicates. The results showed that GTD-1.5 resulted in higher (P 0.05) in nutrient digestibilityof the lambs for all GTD treatments, but GTD-1.5 resulted in better nutrient digestibility. Proper GTD inclusion in an HQC and PSHbased diet can therefore increase the performance of fattening lambs without any harmful effects on feed consumption and nutrientdigestibility. GTD inclusion in an HQC as the main diet of feedlot lambs is recommended at 1.5%.