راحله رجبی علی آبادی

 The limitation of water and soil resources, as well as the import of major food items used in animal nutrition, shows the necessity of using alternative food sources and the use of industrial and agricultural by-products in animal nutrition. Also, cereal grains are the main food for humans, and considering the growth of human population, especially in developing countries, it is not logical to use them in animal rations. In addition, it has been reported that the trend of grain production in the world is decreasing. Barley is an important source of energy in the whole world and is the basic energy unit in livestock nutritional standards. The content of digestible energy, crude protein, starch and lysine of barley is between corn and oats. Barley grain is similar to oats in some ways, but the shell of the barley grain is smaller and hardly attached to the kernel. For this reason, it should be processed before feeding. Due to having a coating, the amount of crude fiber in barley is higher than non-coated grains such as corn, sorghum, wheat and rye. Barley should be considered intermediate between oats and other grains in terms of nutritional value and characteristics, but its density is similar to corn and its starch digestion in the small intestine is slightly less than corn. In most varieties of barley, the seed is surrounded by a coat that constitutes 10 to 14% of the seed weight. The average crude protein content of barley grain is close to 10% of dry matter, which is of low quality and lacks amino acid lysine. The main protein of endosperm is prolamin, which forms the majority of seed protein. In the past, many attempts have been made to minimize the use of cereal grains in animal diets with different alternatives. In line with the optimal use of agricultural by-products in livestock feeding, a lot of research has been done, which is the replacement of by-products such as cereal bran instead of cereal grains in the concentrate.

In order to investigate the effect of using different levels of barley bran on performance, nutrient digestibility, some blood metabolites and ruminal parameters in Dalagh ewes, 20 ewes that Three Abdomen Births and Dalagh race with a mean weight of 36.3 ± 3.7 was used. This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replications. Treatments included: control treatment (diet without barley bran), treatment (diet containing 7 percent barley bran), treatment (diet containing 14 percent barley bran) and treatment (diet containing 21 percent barley bran). The consumed feed and the remaining feed were weighed on a daily basis, and the animals were weighed every two weeks fasting, after 16 hours of starvation, using a digital scale, and all statistical analyzes of this project were performed in SAS software version 9.1.

 The results of this experiment showed that using different levels of barley bran in ewes caused no significant difference in daily weight gain, final weight and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05) However, daily feed intake was affected by experimental treatments in treatment consumer 21% of barley bran reduces daily feed intake (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), insoluble fiber in acidic detergent (NDF) and ether extract(ET) between treatments receiving different amounts of barley bran (p>0.05) but the digestibility of insoluble fiber in neutral detergent. With increasing consumption of barley bran, it decreases so that the control treatment has the highest percentage of digestibility of insoluble fiber in neutral detergent (p<0.05). protozoan population was not affected by experimental treatments during fasting and three hours after feeding (p>0.05), but protozoan population decreased at six hours after morning feeding in barley bran receiving treatments compared to the control treatment (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in ruminal pH during fasting, three and six hours after morning feeding between treatments receiving different amounts of barley bran (p>0.05), but ruminal ammonia concentration in treatment receiving 14% barley bran. Significance was higher than other treatments (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, urea, total protein, albumin and globulin levels among different ewes of different levels of barley bran (p>0.05), also, use of barley bran at different levels in relation to nutritional behavior and ruminal activity does not have a significant effect (p>0.05).

 According to the results of this experiment, without reducing feed intake and upsetting the rumen balance, barley bran up to 14% can be used in Dalagh ewes and this substitute of barley, which is also cheap, is a substitute for cereals, and the results of this research can be applied to sheep's rations to reduce nutritional costs.

Introduction :

 The fodder used in animal feed is in the form of silage, crushed and pellets. If used a a pelleted form, the animal will spend less time for eating so the activity and the maintenance requirements will be decrease. Part of the improvement in pellet diet is due to less energy consumption during feeding. In other words, the use of pellet rations reduces the energy consumed by the animal for eating and also increases the availability of vital nutrients and energy (Fluharty et al., 2017). Alfalfa is one of the forage plants that can produce more than two tons of protein per hectare per year. Pelleted alfalfa is a perfect feed for dairy cows, sheep and goats, horses, camels, rabbits and other livestock animals as it improves their performance and production (Fluharty et al., 2017).The activities of ruminal protozoa contribute significantly to the digestion of plant cell wall polymers and their absence from the rumen may have a negative effect on the extent of fiber digestion. Fiber-degrading enzymes include total cellulase activity, carboxymethylcellulase, and microcrystalline cellulase. The activity of these enzymes is in three separate parts of the rumen contents, including tiny particles (microbes attached to the rumen particle), intracellular part (cells that are freely suspended in the liquid part of the ruminal fluid) and extracellular part (enzymes in the liquid part) are measured (Agarwal et al., 2000). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of alfalfa physical shape and barley grain processing on nitrogen retention, activity of enzyme cellulolytic, blood parameters and rumen microbial population in Dalagh breed fattening lambs.

Thirty male lambs with an approximate age of 3.5±1.2 months with an average weight of 17 ± 1.1 kg were used. The experiment was statistically analyzed in the form of a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with two factors. The experimental variables include: physical form of forage (chopped vs. pelleted form) and barley grain processing (whole vs. grounded vs. steam flaked). The experiment was performed in the 98 days (14 days of habituation and 84 days of the main course) with 6 treatments and 5 replications. Experimental diets were equal in protein and energy content and includes: 1- Pelleted alfalfa with whole barley grain 2- Pelleted alfalfa with ground barley grain 3- Pelleted alfalfa with flaked barley grain 4- Alfalfa with whole barley grain 5-Alfalfa with ground barley grain 6 -Alfalfa with flaked barley grain. Rumen fluid was sampled on day 84 at 3 hours after feeding and blood samples were taken from the lambs in the penultimate week of the fattening period 3 hours after morning feeding from the cervical vein.

Nitrogen consumption and fecal extracted nitrogen in lambs feces were significantly affected by the physical shape of the forage, which nitrogen consumption and fecal nitrogen excretion in lambs fed with pelleted alfalfa compared to chopped alfalfa were increased (P<0.05).  The processing of barley grain didn’t significant effect on apparent nitrogen balance parameters (P>0.05). The total number of rumen bacteria, lactic acid, coliform and rumen protozoa were not affected by the physical form of the forage (P >0.05). However, the number of total bacteria and rumen protozoa in lambs fed with flaked barley grain were higher than milled barley grain and also in milled barley grain were greater than whole barley grain (P<0.05). Activity of carboxymethyl cellulase and microcrystalline cellulase enzymes in intra cellular, extra cellular, solid and total rumen fluids of lambs fed pelleted alfalfa forage and flaked barley was higher than chopped alfalfa, however, there was no significant difference between treatments (P >0.05). The blood glucose of lambs was significantly higher in lambs fed by flaked barley than milled barley and in milled barley was higher than whole barley grain (P<0.05) The blood urea nitrogen of lambs was significantly lower in lambs fed by flaked barley than milled barley and in milled barley was lower than whole barley grain (P<0.05).

The results of our experiment showed that the use of pelleted alfalfa and flaked barley grain in the diet of fattening of lambs due to numerical increasing trend in digested nitrogen, statistical reducing of urea nitrogen and numerical increasing trend in total rumen bacteria and cellulase enzymes activity had the best performance of rumen, which ultimately ensures the health of livestock. For recommendation using pelleted form of forage and flaked barley grain for farmers is required more study to investigate rumen and post rumen digestion rate of nitrogen and also, the cost of processing. While the lamb performance increase compared to the cost of processing, it can be recommended to the farmer to instead of consuming alfalfa and barley grain as a traditional way, use the processed form of them to improve the efficiency of the use of nutrients and increase the performance of the animals.

In order to investigate the effect of alfalfa physical shape and barley grain processing on yield, ruminal parameters and microbial protein synthesis in Dalagh fattening lambs, 30 male lambs of 3.5±1.2 months old with an average live weight of 17±1.1 kg were used.This experiment was performed in factorial form (3×2) based on a completely randomized design with two factors including: physical form of forage and processing of barley grain in 98 days with 6 treatments and 5 replications. Experimental diets included: 1- Chopped alfalfa with whole barley grains 2- Chopped alfalfa with ground barley grains 3- Chopped alfalfa with flaky barley grains 4- Pellet alfalfa with whole barley grains 5- Pellet alfalfa with barley grains Grinded 6- Pellet alfalfa with barley flakes. The daily feed and its residue were weighed and recorded daily for each animal. Rumen fluid sampling was performed on day 84 at 3 hours after feeding. From day 70 of the experiment, the volume of urine produced by each animal was recorded daily for 6 days.The results showed that alfalfa forage in the form of pellets increased the dry matter consumption, increased daily weight, increased propionate content, increased nitrogen, increased microbial protein and decreased acetate and pH (P <0.05). Also, flaxseed and ground barley processing compared to whole barley grain increased daily weight gain and increased propionate, nitrogen and microbial protein levels and decreased ammonia and pH (P <0.05).Keywords: Physical form, Processing, Rumen parameters, Microbial protein, Fattening lambs.

Utilization of minerals and vitamins is essential for maximum production and animal health. Vitamin E and selenium perform important functions in the cow. Deficiencies of one, or both, of these nutrients have been implicated in white muscle disease, retained placentas, oxidized milk, lower immune function and mastitis.The roles of these two nutrients are closely related. Both selenium and vitamin E protect cells from the detrimental effects of oxidation but they do so in different ways. Vitamin E, an antioxidant present in the cell membrane, prevents the formation of harmful free radicals. Selenium functions throughout the cell to destroy peroxides, another harmful compound. This explains why selenium will correct some deficiency symptoms of vitamin E and not others. Although feeding large amounts of selenium does reduce the need for vitamin E and vice versa, high levels of one nutrient does not eliminate the need for the other. Selenium and vitamin E have positive and important effects on the growth and maintenance of normal physiological function in animals, especially suckling calves. As recommended by the National Research Association (NRC,2001) the daily requirement of growing calves for Selenium is about 0.30 mg and 40 IU for vitamin E, and the Agricultural Research Association (ARC,1980) for 0.10 mg and 15 IU for selenium and Vitamin E is recommended for growing suckling calves. Selenium as an essential but Low Consumption mineral is important in light of its variation in ruminant vegetable sources (Belali et al 2008) as well as soil selenium deficiency in many parts of the world and Iran (Kajouri & Shirazi 2007, Malekuti et al 2002 and Mehri et al. 2011), on the other hand, since selenium uptake in ruminants is lower than in non-ruminant animals. The importance of providing enough selenium in ruminants' rations doubles and consequently a lack of it can lead to negative changes in the health status and performance of animals. The objective of this study was performed to compare the levels of selenium and vitamin E recommended in NRC and ARC by oral and injectable methods on some blood metabolites, digestibility, performance and Skeletal Growth Indices of suckling Holstein Calves. Twenty five Holstein calves with mean weight of 40±2.7 and 20±5 days and selenium and vitamin E levels of 0.3 mg and 40 IU (as recommended by NRC) and 0.1 mg and 15 IU (as recommended by ARC) respectively, were recruited for this experiment. Were used in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 5 replications. Experimental treatments included: 1) control (no selenium and vitamin E), 2) selenium and vitamin E injections as recommended by NRC, 3) selenium and vitamin E injections as recommended by ARC, 4) oral selenium and vitamin E as recommended by NRC, 5 Oral Selenium and Vitamin E were as per ARC recommendation. The duration of the experiment was 35 days. During the experiment, calves were kept in separate locations. The rations were based on NRC (2001). The rations were provided by TMR in calves at 8 am and 16 pm and also had free access to water. Milk feeding was also performed in the morning and evening (10% of body weight). Animals were weighed weekly. To determine the dry matter digestibility of the diets, the calves' feed and faeces were sampled for six consecutive days and kept at -29 ° C until the experiment. Digestibility was determined according to AOAC (1990) methods. Three days a week, the calves' faeces was randomly evaluated. Faeces scores were determined according to the method of Khan et al (2011). On the last day, three hours after morning meal, calves were sampled from the veins and blood parameters, glutathione peroxidase activity and tetrodotyronine and triiodothyronine hormone levels were determined using Pars Test automated analyzer and kit. Measurement of skeletal growth in the body by standard meter and caliper according to the method of Khan et al. (2007). The results of this experiment showed There was no significant difference between treatments in terms of weight performance, dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio and dry matter digestibility (P >0.05). Intake of selenium and vitamin E did not show significant differences between different treatments of glucose, cholesterol, urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin and blood globulin (P>0.05). But blood triglyceride concentration was higher in calves receiving selenium and vitamin E than control (P <0.05). Glutathione peroxidase enzyme activity and blood levels of tetradotyronine and triiodothyronine were also increased in calves receiving selenium and vitamin E compared to control (P <0.05). The results also show that selenium and vitamin E injections orally and according to NRC and ARC recommendation were no significantly different from the control group in terms of faeces score, number of calves with diarrhea and days of calf diarrhea. Did not (P >0.05).There was no significant difference between calves for different skeletal growth indices (P >0.05). Finally, Using selenium and vitamin E in both oral and intravenous methods and both NRC and ARC recommendation did not differ in functional parameters, digestibility and blood metabolites but use of selenium and vitamin E According to the NRC method, the highest increase in blood triglyceride concentration and increased activity of whole blood glutathione peroxidase enzyme and concentration of tetradotyronine hormones and serum triglyceride hormones were higher than other treatments. Overall, the results of this study showed that the use of selenium and vitamin E in both oral and intravenous methods and both NRC and ARC recommendations caused differences in weight gain, dry matter digestibility, stool consistency, skeletal growth and metabolite indices. Blood transfusions are not possible, but the use of selenium and vitamin E injectable and according to the NRC recommends the highest increase in blood triglyceride concentration and increased activity of whole blood glutathione peroxidase enzyme and the concentration of tetradotyronine hormones and other thyridothyronine ratios. It has consequences. Overall, it can be suggested that selenium and vitamin E may be used in suckling calves Nutrition whit Injection, probably because of their higher absorption and according to the NRC method.

The trend of changes in the situation of agriculture and animal husbandry in Iran during the last half century has been such that the livestock population has increased significantly and As a result, the nutritional needs of livestock have also increased. In Iran, sheep breeding is a major part of livestock activities. Irregular grazing has caused incessant erosion of pastures and Rising demand for meat has led producers to move from a grazing system to a dense production system, or in other words, a sheep fattening systemt providing food in a fattening period accounts for about 65 to 70 percent of the cost of raising and maintaining livestockt Therefore, physical and chemical processes can increase the nutritional value of feed and improve production efficiency.

In order to investigate the effect of physical form of alfalfa fodder and barley grain processing on yield and nutrient digestibility in fattening lambs of 30 Dalagh breed, 3.5±1/2month-old male lambs with an average weight of 17 ± 1.1 were used. These experiments were statistically analyzed in a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with two factors. The experimental variables include: physical form of forage and barley grain processing. In the 98-day period (14 days of habituation and 84 days of the main period) with 6 treatments and 5 replications, the experimental diets were equal in terms of protein and energy content. Consumed feed and the rest of feed were weighed daily and the animals were weighed on an empty stomach every two weeks, after 16 hours of hunger using a digital scale And all statistical analyzes of this design were performed in SAS software version 1/9.

There was a significant difference between different treatments in terms of weight gain. The treatments that used pellet alfalfa in comparison with chopped alfalfa had a higher final weight of 42.81 compared to 41.50 and also had a higher daily weight gain in the whole period of 297.49 compared to 282.94. The dry matter consumption of the whole period in the treatments receiving pellet alfalfa was 1933.49 gr and higher than the treatments receiving chopped alfalfa 1883/76 gr and also the use of pellet alfalfa improved the feed conversion ratio in the third month. Feed digestibility was higher in pellet alfalfa treatments and digestibility of dry matter, netrul detergent fiber and crude protein were statistically significantly different in different treatments. Barley grain processing had a significant effect on end-to-end weight gain and end-of-period weight was reported to be significantly higher than ground barley and whole barley grain in treatments receiving flake barley, respectively. Also, the daily weight gain in the whole period in the treatments receiving barley flakes and ground and whole barley grains were 294.05, 289.40 and 287.20, respectively. Treatments receiving flake barley, ground barley and whole barley grain had higher digestibility of crude protein from 63.96, 62.98 and 61.95, respectively, from right to left.

Forage processing of alfalfa and barley grains means that in the whole processing of feed of fattening lambs, it increases the feed consumption and increases the daily weight and in total a higher final weight in fattening lambs, Also, animal feed processing improves feed efficiency and increases digestibility.

This study was performed to investigate the effect of different levels of potato in the diet on ruminal parameters, nutrient digestibility and rumen liquor cellulolytic enzymes including microcrystalline-cellulase and carboxymethyl-cellulase in different parts of rumen liquor (particulate material (PM), extra cellular (EC) or cellular. Twelve Dalagh ewes were used in this experiment in a completely randomized design with 3 treatments and 4 replicates. Experimental treatments included 1) control treatment (no potatoes) 2) 7.5% potato treatment 3) 15% potato treatment based on dietary dry matter. The diets were similar in protein and energy. The results of this study showed that the difference in pH of rumen liquor between treatments (6.02-6.4) was statistically significant (p=0.0003). Among the experimental treatments, the highest amount of rumen ammonia nitrogen was observe in the control treatment (14.93) and the lowest in the treatment containing 15% potato (10.23) and the difference was statistically significant (p= 0.0001).The number of protozoa in the control treatments was the lowest and the potato treatment 7.5% the highest .This difference was significant between control treatment and treatments containing 7.5 and 15% potatoes (p=0.023). The DDM, CP, OM, NDF digestibility of diet in three rations did differ significantly (p =0.0001). Among the activities of carboxymethyl-cellulase and microcrystalline-cellulase enzymes in the cellular, EC, PM and total fraction (all 3 sections), the highest and lowest values were observed in control and 15% potato treatments, respectively. There was a significant difference between the three treatment (p<0.0001). According to the results mentioned, potato can be used up to 15% of the diet of ewes without any adverse effect.

In order to investigate the effect of various levels of Poultry by-product meal(PBM) on the performance of Baluchi male lambs, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 4 experimental diets containing (0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 ) doses of Poultry by-product meal residues and 6 replicates (Lamb) in each treatment. The fattening was a 90- day feeding period preceded by a 14-day adaptation period. Different levels of Poultry by-product meal had no significant effect on daily lamb weight, average daily intake of dry matter and feed conversion ratio. Significantly higher Blood urea nitrogen was observed in control diet than other treatment (P <0.05), but there was no significant difference in plasma glucose in experimental diets (P <0.05). The protein and protein portions of A, B, B1, B2, B3 and C in this experiment were 11.8, 8.23, 22.21, 19.1, and 81.3%, respectively. The results of current study showed that Poultry by-product meal 7.5% can be used in lamb̓̕s finishing diets without adverse effect on performance.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of feeding ensiled alfalfa with wasted date on digestibility and ruminal parameters in Kermani sheep. Four rams (47 ± 2 kg BW) were used in a 4×4 latin square design. Each experimental period consisted 21-days. For ensiling, fresh alfalfa with different levels of wasted date (0, 5, 10 and 15 percent) were mixed together and ensiled in 40 L container for 45 days. Chemical composition of silages were determined and used in experimental diets as: 1) control diet (alfalfa silage without wasted date); 2) alfalfa with 5% wasted date silage; 3) alfalfa with 10% wasted date silage and 4) alfalfa with 15% wasted date silage. The results showed that adding wasted date to alfalfa on ensiling, improved silage quality and increased DM and energy content of silages (P

Introduction Ensiling is less dependent to weather condition and farmers are trying to ensile forages for preserving them for livestock feeding. Ensiling legumes because of their buffering capacity and high moisture content are difficult. Also, ensiling alfalfa will lose up to %85 of its nitrogen content as non-protein nitrogen. Adding some additives like carbohydrate sources will improve alfalfa silage quality and its physical characteristics. There are some agricultural byproducts which can be used in animal feeding. Waste date is being produced annually in Iran and it can be used as carbohydrate source during alfalfa ensiling. This experiment was conducted to investigate ensiling alfalfa with different levels of waste date and its feeding effect on rumen protozoa population, microbial protein synthesis and blood parameters in Kermani sheep.
Materials and method Eight rams (47 ± 2 kg BW) were used in a 2×2 change over design experiment. Each experimental period was conducted for 21 days (16 days for adaptation and days for sampling). For ensiling, fresh alfalfa with different levels of waste date (0, 5, 10 and %15) were mixed together and ensiled in 100 L containers for 45 days. After opening chemical compositions of silages such as dry matter, crude protein, ammonia nitrogen, crude fat, organic matter, ash, NDF, ADF and pH were determined according to standard methods. Then, it was used %30% of diet in experimental diets as: 1) control diet (alfalfa silage without waste date); 2) alfalfa silage with 5% waste date; 3) alfalfa silage with 10% waste date and 4) alfalfa silage with 15% waste date. Treatment diets were mixed and fed as a TMR at 0800 and 1700 h. Amount of the TMR offered was recorded, and treatment diets were sampled daily for the last 5 d of each period. Orts were weighed, recorded, and sampled according to the same procedures followed for the treatment diets. Urine samples were acidified during collection to a pH key words: