محمد علی نوروزیان

The most important problem of the animal industry is the supply of needed feeds, and identifying the new sources of feeds is of particular importance. This study was conducted to determine chemical composition of whole basil (Ocimum basilicum) forage after seeding and to investigate the effect of different levels of this forage replacing with straw and a part of alfalfa in the diet of fattening lambs on performance, blood parameters and the nutrients digestibility.

18 male Zandi lambs with initial body weight of 28.8±2.03 kg were used in a completely randomized design with 3 treatments and 6 lambs in each group. Experimental treatments were: 1) control (basal diet without whole basil forage) 2) basal diet + 12.5 % basil forage and 3) basal diet + 25 % basil forage. Chemical composition of basil forage was determined. Also, nutrients digestibility of experimental diets, blood parameters and performance of experimental lambs were determined. 

Average amount of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, NDF and ash of basil forage were 92.69±1.2, 6.65±0.06, 1.35±0.01, 54.26±0.33 and 11.09±0.44, respectively. Replacing of basil with wheat straw and alfalfa hay in finishing experimental lambs resulted in improvement in DMI, ADG and FCR (p<0.05). Blood glucose, BUN, cholesterol, triglycerides and hepatic enzymes were not significantly affect by experimental groups. Blood total protein concentration was higher in lambs fed by 25 % basil forage compared to other experimental groups (p<0.05). Feeding whole basil increased digestibility of crude protein, crude fat and NDF (p<0.05), but had no any effect on carcass traits and tail fat weight of experimental lambs.

Results of this study showed that whole basil can be used replacing with wheat straw and alfalfa hay up to 25 % in fattening lambs diet without negative effect on performance and digestibility of diets nutrients.

The use of radiation has become a way of life in most countries around the globe. The utilization of nuclear techniques in the area of agriculture, defense, and power generation has increased over the last few decades. Radiation technology is widely used to produce changes in product characteristics leading to the development of new products. Radiation-mediated morphological, structural and/or functional changes in a plant are governed by the intensity and duration of the gamma irradiation. Gamma irradiation was found to increase plant productivity. Gamma rays represent one of the important physical agents used to improve the characters and productivity of many plants (e.g. rice, maize, bean, cowpea, and potato). Gamma irradiation also has been found to be very useful for both sterilization and for the preservation of food and cereal grain in nutrition and agriculture. Gamma rays were also found to cause modulation in protein patterns by inducing the appearance and/or disappearance of some protein bands. It has been shown that large DNA strands were broken into small strands at low irradiation doses but small and large DNA strands were broken at higher irradiation doses. Also it has reported that germination of seeds can be influenced in both positive and negative directions by gamma radiation exposure as a result of mutation inductions depending on cellular abnormalities or stimulatory modifications triggered by radiation doses. In several studies, lethal and stimulatory effects of gamma irradiation on germination percentage, emergence, and survival of seedlings of different plant species have been reported. The present work has been intended to investigate the response of corn seeds exposed to gamma irradiation (25 Gys) in terms of the nutritional performance of its forage and silage compared with control non-exposed seeds. Corn seeds were obtained from the Vegetable Crop Seed Production and Technology section, Ghezlagh Farm, College of Abouraihan, university of Tehran, Iran. Four kg corn seeds (single cross 704) were divided into 2 groups. The first group did not have any treatment to serve as a control, while the second group was irradiated with Gamma rays (25 Gray) using Gamma cell – cobalt- 60 instruction and with the rate of 0.55 Gr/ min at the Nuclear Agricultural Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Karaj, Iran. Field experiments were conducted during the summer seasons at Ghezlal farm Research Station located at the southwest of Tehran province, Varamin, to study the effect of gamma irradiation (25 Gray) on the performance of corn forage and silage. After irradiation, control and irradiated seeds were cultivated in 2000 m2. Agricultural practices such as: irrigation, weeding, fertilization, and pest control were carried out as recommended. Samples of corn plants were obtained at the late stage of growth and amounts of proline, soluble carbohydrate, and protein were determined. Performance chrematistics of experimental groups were also recorded. After harvesting, the corn forage was chopped and transferred to an experimental silo made of polyethylene pipe. DM, ash, CP, NDF, and ADF of experimental silages were determined according to standards procedures. The pH of silage also was determined using pH meters. For the determination of gas production parameters, 200 mg of dry samples were incubated at gas production environment and the amount and rate of gas production were recorded at a different time of incubation (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h). Using gas production parameters, the amount of OM digestibility, ME, NEL, and SCFA were also determined. Data were analyzed using the t-student test of SAS software (ver. 9.1). Duncan’s multiple range test was used to detect statistical significance between treatments using a significance level of 0.05. Irradiation of corn seeds increased corn performance (wet and dry weight of seed and forage), amount of soluble carbohydrates and protein, and concentration of proline (P<0.05). The exposed treatment showed the highest increase in seed weight, seed number, and weight of 1000 seeds as compared to the control (P < 0.05). Amount of gas, and b and c fractions of gas production, the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), metabolizable (ME) and net energy for lactation (NEL), and organic matter digestibility (OMD) were higher for treated corn forage and silage compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Also, exposed corn silage had a lower level of pH and higher amount of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) than control (P < 0.05). The results of this study show that exposing irradiation of corn seeds to 25 gray gamma-ray improves fermentation parameters and nutrition values of corn forage and silage.

This study was conducted to investigate the chemical composition and nutritional characteristics of corn seeds exposed to gamma ray and the effect of its silage feeding on performance of finishing male Zandi lambs. First, the germination characteristics of control and irradiated corn seeds with different dosages of gamma ray (25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 gray) were measured. After determining the appropriate dose, corn seeds were irradiated with gamma ray at 25 gray and cultivated in the field. At the end of the growth period, corn forage was harvested and ensiled in experimental and farm silages. In addition, the effects of feeding experimental silages on performance and blood metabolites of finishing Zandi lambs were determined. Experimental treatments were: 1) control; diet containing 20% non-irradiated corn silage and 2) diet containing 20% corn silage irradiated with 25 gray gamma ray. Irradiation with 25 dosage of gamma gray increased secondary roots, plumule and rootlet number in greenhouse condition as compared to other irradiation dosages (P<0.01). Irradiated corn had higher levels of soluble carbohydrates, soluble protein and chlorophyll content in the field condition compared to control group (P<0.01). Silage obtained from irradiated corn had higher crude protein content and lower pH compared to control (P<0.05). Feeding irradiated corn silage increased final body weight and average daily gain and improved feed conversion ratio of fattening lambs (P<0.05). Based on the results of the present study, irradiation of corn seeds with gamma ray improves corn silage quality and performance of fattening lambs.

This study was performed to assess the effects of offering wheat straw as free choice with different particle sizes on ruminal fermentation, blood metabolites and nutrients digestibility of Holstein dairy calves. Individually housed calves (n = 40, BW = 43.8 ±3.2 kg) were used in a completely randomized design and divided to four different treatments consisting of: 1) starter feed without wheat straw supplementation (control; CON), 2) starter feed + wheat straw with 1mm geometrical mean particle length (GMPL, Fine), 3) starter feed + wheat straw with 4mm GMPL (Medium), and 4) starter feed + wheat straw with 7mm GMPL (Long). Calves entered the trial on d 15, weaned on d 56 and the study ended on d 90 of age. After morning feeding, the ruminal pH were increased by offering forage only at 8 h on d 35 and 4 and 8 h on d 90 (P = 0.05). The total short chain fatty acids concentration (SCFAs), molar proportion of acetate and propionate were similar across treatments, however, the molar proportion of butyrate increased (P = 0.04) in forage supplemented calves compared with CON calves. Regardless of forage particle size, dry matter and crude protein digestibilities were increased in forage supplemented calves compared with CON calves (P = 0.05). Moreover, no differences were found for different geometrical mean particle length of WS. Overall, free-choice provision of wheat straw enhanced ruminal pH, apparent nutrient digestibility, and rumen development indicators (BHBA) in Holstein dairy calves.

In this study, chemical compositions of black seed meals samples were determined. 18 male weaning Zandi lambs with an average body weight of 23.5 ±1.5 kg were used in a completely randomized design in three groups of six in individual pens. Experimental treatments were: 1) control (basal diet with 12% soybean meal and without black seed meal), 2) diet containing 6% soybean meal and 9% black seed meal and 3) diet containing 18% black seed meal and without soybean meal. The concentration of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, NDF, ADF, ADIN, and crude ash of black seed meal samples were 97.53±0.58, 31.26±0.99, 15.16 ± 0.61, 25.95 ± 1.34, 14.2±0.80, 0.69±0.04 and 5.07 ± 0.24, respectively. Replacement of soybean meal with black seed meal in the diet of experimental lambs had no effect on final body weight, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, dry matter intake, dressing percentage, tail and total body fat deposition. Albumin and total protein were higher for lambs fed by diet containing 18 % black seed meal compared to other treatments (P <0.05). However, the concentration of blood triglyceride, cholesterol and urea nitrogen were not differed between experimental groups. The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude fat and protein were not affect by feeding of experimental diets. It seems that black seed meal can be used in the diet of fattening lambs up to 18% without adverse effect on performance and nutrients digestibility of growing lambs.

The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of the application of different levels of nitrogen fertilizer and inoculation of different strains of Rhizobium bacteria on morpho-physiological, biochemical, yield and yield components of guar under different levels of drought stress.

The experiment was performed as a split factorial in a Randomized Complete Block design with three replications in the 2019-2020 growing seasons. Experimental treatments included different irrigation regimes (complete irrigation, cessation of irrigation up to 50% of flowering and 50% of podding) as main plots and treatments of different levels of nitrogen fertilizer (control, 50 and 100 kg.ha-1) and inoculation of Guar seeds with different strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum (non-inoculation, and strains of RS150 and RS153) as subplots. Traits of plant height, shoot dry weight, number of leaves per plant, number of seeds per m2, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, biological yield, chlorophyll a, b, and total chlorophyll, carotenoids, soluble sugars, grain protein and enzymatic activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase were evaluated in the present study.

The obtained results indicated that the application of low irrigation resulted in reducing all traits except indices of soluble sugars and the enzymatic activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase. On the other hand, different levels of nitrogen fertilizer and Rhizobium inoculation significantly increased all studied traits. Also, it was observed that although the strain of RS150 significantly increased chlorophyll b content and enzymatic activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase than the RS153 strain, the application of RS153 strain was maximal in other traits.

In general, complete irrigation was required in the study area, and increasing nitrogen fertilizer levels up to 100 kg.ha-1 had no adverse effects on morphological traits, yield, and yield components of guar plants growing under drought stress. Furthermore, the application of Bradyrhizobium japonicum moderated the negative impacts of drought stress.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of urea treatment of wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse on chemical composition, lag time and ruminal degradability parameters of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) by nylon bag technique. The chemical composition and degradability parameters of unprocessed samples and processed samples with five percent urea were determined using three mature rumen-fistulated Holstein dairy cows (with initial body weight of 615±15 kg and three lactation number). Urea treatment decreased DM and NDF degradation lag time of processed wheat straw (P<0.05); however it had no effect on DM and NDF degradation lag time of sugarcane bagasse. The urea treatment resulted to increase in DM and NDF degradability rate of processed wheat straw (P<0.05), but had no effect on DM and NDF degradability rate of sugarcane bagasse. The potentially degradable fraction of DM and پ NDF of both experimental materials were increased by treatment (P<0.05). The effective degradability of DM and NDF of experimental roughages increased (P<0.05) after urea treatment from 35.69 and 21.69 to 44.04 and 29.12 percent, respectively for wheat straw and from 18.88 and 15.65 to 23.92 and 19.52 percent, respectively for sugarcane bagasse. According to the results of this experiment, urea treatment of roughages-feeds, especially wheat straw improves degradability of DM and NDF.

Dairy cows are exposed to various stresses such as parturition, lactation and oxidative stress during the transition period. Controlling these stresses and other stresses such as treatment and vaccination could help to improve the health and persistency of milk production. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ascorbic acid and salicylate on animal health and milk production in transition period as well as alleviating inflammatory responses induced by postpartum vaccinations. Forty-four Holsteins fresh cows were randomly assigned to 4 experimental groups (n = 11) in a randomized complete design and experiment continued for 30 days. Treatments groups were as follows: 1) control (with basal diet) 2) basal diet + 30 g/day ascorbic acid, 3) basal diet + 10 g/day salicylic acid and 4) basal diet + 30 g/day ascorbic acid + 10 g/day salicylate. Results showed that feeding of salicylate increased milk production (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation of ascorbic acid increased milk fat percentage (p < 0.05) but had no effect on milk production. The highest concentration of glucose was noted in cows fed by ascorbic acid, and the lowest concentration of blood urea nitrogen was observed in cows fed by ascorbic acid + salicylate (P <0.05). Dietary inclusion of salicylate, ascorbate or the combination of salicylate and ascorbate decreased concentrations of haptoglobin and serum amyloid-A in cows vaccinated against FMD, whereas TNFα was decreased just in cows fed by salicylate and salicylate + ascorbate as compared to the control group (P <0.05). Generally, it could be concluded that supplementation of ascorbic acid and salicylate in early lactating cows could improve production and health status and reduce inflammatory responses of postpartum vaccinations.

To study the effects of replacing canola meal with black seed meal on performance, blood parameters and carcass characteristics, eighteen male lambs (with initial BW, 29.5 ±1.5 kg and 110 ± 7 days of age) were used in a completely randomized design with 3 different treatments over 90 days. Experimental treatments were: 1) control; diet containing 9% canola meal, 2) diet containing 4.5 % canola meal plus 4.5 % black seed meal and 3) diet containing 9 % black seed meal. The amount of dry matter, ash, crude protein, fat, NDF, ADF, and ADIN of black seed meal was 92.60 ±0.58, 7.24±0.27, 35.8±1.0, 12.31±0.51, 24.56±1.24, 13.0±0.79 and 2.15±0.17, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments for digestibility of organic matter, NDF, fat and protein. Daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, daily weight gain, final body weight, carcass efficiency, weight of liver, heart, kidney and testis were not differed between experimental groups. However, lambs fed with black seed meal had lower level of subcutaneous fat, tail-fat and total body fat deposition compared to control group (P<0.05). Feeding 9% black seed meal increased blood total protein and albumin concentration compared to the other experimental groups (P<0.05). The results of this study showed that it could be feasible to use black seed meal up to 9% in finishing lamb diet.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of partial replacement of wheat straw for corn silage and alfalfa hay at 7% diet dry matter (DM) on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and milk production of late-lactation Holstein cows. Eight multiparous Holstein cows (averaging 2.9±0.35 parity; 43.6±2.6 kg/d milk yield; 214±18 d in milk) were used in a replicated 4×4 Latin Square design. During each of four 21-d periods, cows were fed  total mixed rations varying in forage source: 1) control (13.5% alfalfa hay, 20% corn silage and 66.5% concentrate), 2) wheat straw replaced for corn silage, 3) wheat straw replaced for alfalfa hay 4) wheat straw equally replaced for corn silage and alfalfa hay. Diets were formulated to contain similar values of NDF, forage NDF and physically effective NDF. The DM intake, milk production and compositions as well as total tract digestibility of DM, organic matter, NDF, and crude protein were unaffected by treatments. Likewise, ruminal and blood parameters were not affected by experimental treatments. Body weight gain tended to be lower (P=0.06) for cows fed the wheat straw-included diets. These results indicated that, at 7% of diet DM, chopped wheat straw could be used as an alternative for major forage sources high concentrate diets for lactation cows yielding over 40 kg/d milk.

Due to the large proportion of iodine present in milk and dairy products, they have been one of the important sources of nutritional iodine in several countries. Information about variation in milk iodine concentration in Iran is limited.

The present study was conducted to determine the iodine concentration in Iranian milk and dairy milk products.

In the first step, 10 commercial dairy farms (five located in tropical and other located in cold region) were included in the study. In the second step, the iodine concentration of six samples of different milk products from the retail market was determined by Sandell-Kolthoff (acid-digestion) reaction.

The average iodine concentration of milk samples from cold region was significantly lower (50.7 ± 24.3 %) than the iodine concentration of milk samples from the tropical region (P<0.05). Sterilized milk (282.0 ± 111.0 µg/l) had higher and raw milk (224.3 ± 116.9 µg/l) had lower iodine concentration  (P<0.05). There was no effect of milk fat class (whole and semi-skimmed) on milk iodine concentration (P>0.05).

Based on Iranian dairy product intake, raw, pasteurized and sterilized milk provides on average, 74.6, 84.6, 96.0 µg of iodine, approximately 29.8, 33.8, 37.6 % of the adult recommended dietary allowance for this nutrient, respectively.

To study the effects of feeding rumen-protected ascorbic acid and salicylic acid on performance of dairy cows under heat stress conditions, forty four lactating dairy cows in early lactation were allocated in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 11 animals in each treatment for 30 days. Experimental treatments were: 1) control (diet without coated ascorbic acid and salicylic acid), 2) diet contained 30 g/d coated ascorbic acid, 3) diet contained 10 g/d coated salicylic acid and 4) diet contained 30 g/d coated ascorbic acid + 10 g/d coated salicylic acid. Cows were fed with salicylic acid supplement had a higher daily milk yield (51.47 kg/day) compared to other experimental groups (P<0.05). Feeding of coated ascorbic acid increased milk fat percent, glucose, BHBA, NEFA concentration and decreased somatic cell count compared to other treatments (P<0.05). Total milk's solids, energy and fat corrected milk and milk urea nitrogen were increased in coated ascorbic acid group compared to control (P<0.05). Blood urea concentration in coated ascorbic acid and salicylic acid group were less than control group (P<0.05). The results showed that feeding coated ascorbic acid and salicylic acid could improve performance of Holstein dairy cows in early lactating phase under heat stress conditions.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dry corn gluten feed (DCGF) on nutritive value of corn silage by in vitro and in vivo methods. The firs stage of the experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, included three treatments and 5 replicates, in which chopped corn forage was mixed with 0.0, 5 and 10 percent of DCGF and ensiled in 200L polyethylen barrels. After three months of ensiling, the silages were opened and evaluated. Voluntary intake and digestibility of the silages along with basal diet (Alfalfa hay+wheat straw+barley ground) were determined, using mature (two years old) male Shal sheep. Including of DCGF to corn silage increased (p<0.05)dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) in the silages respectively, but pH and organic matter values were not affected by the treatments. However, the DM content did not reach to optimum (35%) point. Concentration of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) was increased but acid detergent fibre (ADF) was decreased (p<0.05) as DCGF was increased in the corn silages. Addition of CGF increased dry matter intake of the silages (p<0.05). The digestibility of DM, OM and NDF were higher in silages containing  DCGF (p<0.05). The intake of the digestible DM, OM and NDF were higher in DCGF content silages than those of basal diet and control silage (p<0.05). In general,adding DCGF to corn silage could improve silage quality as well as increasing voluntary intake (g/d) and digestibility when fed to sheep.

The aim of this research was to study the feeding value of Lactuca Serriola at different harvesting stages and comparison of different models for prediction of its lag time. The forage was cut at tow growing stages before and after bloom and chemical composition, degradability and gas production parameters were compared with alfalfa hay. Also lag time of experimental forages was determined. The crud protein and NFC concentration were the lowest and NDF and ADF content were the highest after bloom compared with alfalfa hay (p<0.05). potentially digestible fraction (b) of DM increased by enhancement of the growing stage od Lactuca Serriola (p<0.05). effective degradability (ED) and gas production potential before bloom stage were significantly higher than the other experimental forages (p<0.05). Results obtained from prediction of lag time showed that the lag timewas the highest before bloom of Lactuca Serriola (p<0.05). In conclusion, Lactuca Serriola ( before bloom) could be considered as a good potential forage source in ruminant nutrition.

This study was carried out to compare agro-morphological traits and nutritive value of 25 tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) ecotypes grown in Tehran, Iran. The experiments were carried out in a split plot design during 2016-2018 growing seasons. The results showed that there was a significant genetic variation in existing germplasm. The highest heritability was related to dry forage yield and collar diameter (88%). The low heritability levels of forage quality related traits indicated that environmental effects play a greater role in controlling this trait. The mean comparison showed that Isfahan ecotype 11 had the highest number of fertile shoots, dry forage yield and diameter of collar while ecotypes of Shahrood ecotype 9 had the highest percentage of dry mater and Dauphine genotype with 16.05% had the highest protein percentage. The number of fertile shoots (NFS) had a positive and significant correlation with dry forage yield (DFY) and plant height (PH). DFY was positively correlated with NDF (0.71) and negatively correlated with CP (-0.62). In AFLP analysis out of the 463 scored bands, 339 (68%) were polymorphic. PIC values ranged from 0.34 (EcoACA-MseCTA) to 0.10 (EcoAGC-MseCAC). The results showed that genetic distances between ecotypes based on agro-morphologic characters and nutritional values were correlated based on AFLP (r=0.41, P=0.05) results. Based on cluster analysis all genotypes were classified into 4 genotypic groups. Considerable genetic variation and high heritability estimates indicate that direct selection for increasing forage yield could be promising. However, breeding nutritional values of forage quality might be more difficult due to environmental effects.

The aim was to evaluate effects of in vitro fermentation of different forages co-incubated with different types of non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) on gas production, digestibility, microbial biomass, medium pH and ammonia concentration. A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement (9 treatments and 3 replicates) were used wherein wheat straw, alfalfa hay and corn silage constituted main forage sources and starch, sucrose and pectin were components of NFC. 0.2 g of each forage samples incubated with 0.3 g of each NFC component for 24 h and gas production, apparent and true digestibility, microbial biomass, pH and ammonia concentration measured. Forage and NFC sources, alone but not in combination, had a significant effect on gas production, digestibility as well as ammonia concentration (p

In order to determine the digestibility of different levels of Sprouted Barley (SB) (0, 15, 30 and 45%), 16 adult male sheep by completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 4 replications, were used. Measuring of dry matter and protein degradability parameters of the SB was achieved from 3 rumen cannulated Taleshi breed bulls. The mean and standard deviation of chemical composition of SB including dry matter, crud protein, crude ash, crude fat, neutral detergent fiber, starch, soluble carbohydrates, Ca and P were 52.63±0.005, 10.31±0.58, 2.53±0.25, 2.78±0.15, 20.11±0.53, 44.77±1.47, 17.35±0.95, 0.096±0.006 and 0.402±0.004 % in DM, respectively. In addition, the Gross Energy was obtained 4296±102 Mcal/g. The mean of CP, CF, OM, soluble carbohydrates and GE for SB were significantly higher than barley grain (P<0.05). The mean of digestibility of DM, OM, CP, GE, NDF and DE for germinated barley obtained using difference procedure were 75.08, 81.95, 62.75, 77.66, 54.03 % and 3.34 Mcal/gr, respectively. Digestibility of NDF, GE and DE were increased (P<0.05). The degradable parameters of germinated barely for rapidly degradable fraction (a), slowly degradable fraction (b), rate of degradation (c) for dray matter were 35.19, 51.32 and 24.62 percent per hour.

Introduction It has been estimated that PBP production based on fresh weight in Iran is over 400,000 MT annually. Pistachio by-products consist of 53.50% external hull (epicarp) with the remaining composed of leaves, mesocarp and kernel. The results of few studies showed feeding of low levels of PBP had no effects on sheep, dairy cow and goat performance. Ensiled of PBP with PEG, NaOH and urea then treated by electron irradiation could be caused to better nutrition value via deactivation of tannins. The aim of this study was to survey the effect of diets containing pistachio by products treated by electron irradiation, NaOH, and PEG on nutrients digestibility and performance of finishing Zandi lambs.
Materials and methods Twenty male Zandi lambs with the initial average body weight of 21±1.52 kg were housed in individual pens and were allocated to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design for 70 days. The basal diet consisted of 220 g/kg DM PBP, 130 g/kg DM wheat straw and 650 g/kg DM barley based concentrate. The four dietary treatments included control diet (Treatment 1; basal diet containing 22% PB), ER-PBP (Treatment 2; containing 22% electron irradiated PBP), NaOH-PBP (Treatment 3; containing 22% NaOH treated PBP) and PEG-PBP (Treatment 4; PEG added to basal diet as 15 g/kg of diets DM). Throughout the 70 d experiment, body weight was measured weekly. Feed intake and ort of lambs were recorded and sampled daily for determination of nutrient intake of DM, CP (N × 6.25), EE and NDF as describes before.
Apparent total digestibility of nutrients was estimated by the marker ratio technique using acid insoluble ash (AIA) as an internal marker.
Blood samples (10 ml) were taken from jugular vein of lambs before morning feeding on d 70 of experiment. The serum concentrations of total protein (TP), albumin, creatinine, glucose and urea were determined using commercial laboratory kits (Pars Azmun Laboratory, Tehran, Iran) and an auto analyzer. The data were analyzed as completely randomized design. Duncan’s multiple range tests were used to determine the differences amongst treatments. Significant levels were defined as those with probabilities of 0.05 or less.
Results and Discussion Nothing as the effects of dietary treatments were observed on FBW. Feeding ER-PBP diet to lambs tended to increase DMI and also increased (P Conclusion It can be concluded that irradiation of pistachio by-product is a useful treatment to improve nutritional value of pistachio by-product as a feed ingredient for sheep. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the effects of other physicochemical treatments of PBP on lamb performance and to evaluate the economic value of including PBP in ruminant diets.

In recent years, dietary fat supplementation has become a common practice and fat supplemented diets have had variable effects on animal performance and carcass characteristics.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of increasing the levels of sesame oil on performance, rumen parameters and plasma lipid profile in finishing Chal lambs.

Eighteen male lambs were fed with control (C; without sesame oil) and the diets contained low level (LSO; 2.5%) and high level (HSO; 5%) of sesame oil.

The addition of fat had no effect on dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and carcass weight. Treatments with sesame oil had no effect on rumen ammonia concentration and total protozoal count. Ruminal pH was numerically smaller (p=0.14) for control compared to lambs fed diets containing 2.5 and 5% sesame oil. Treatments had no effect on total VFA, acetate, butyrate, valerate and isovalerate concentrations. The propionate concentration decreased (p=0.04) by supplementation of sesame oil compared with the control. Total cholesterol (TC) and HDL increased and the tendency for VLDL and triglyceride (p=0.13) to increase was observed by treatment groups when compared with the control. Glucose concentration and LDL were not affected by treatment.

Sesame oil had no effect on the performance and carcass weight of lambs but there was decrease in blood cholesterol concentration.

This study was conducted to investigate effect of different sources of copper on gas production parameters and nutrients digestibility in Zandi male lambs. In the first experiment, 18 male lambs (initial body weight 17.53±1.62) divided into three groups and fed one of the three experimental diets for 70 days. Dietary treatments were control (basal diet without copper supplement), basal diet plus 10 ppm copper from sulfate and basal diet plus 10 ppm from proteinate copper. In comparison with control, copper supplementation improved average daily gain and feed conversion ratio, but there was no significant difference among the dietary treatments for dry matter intake. Dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and acid detergent fiber digestibility was higher for lambs fed with organic copper compared to lambs fed with control and inorganic copper (P<0.01). In the second experiment, an in vitro gas production technique was used to evaluate the effects of copper sources on the amount and rate of gas production, dry matter degradability, utilization of metabolizable energy (ME), and ruminal fermentation patterns using rumen fluid from three lambs as inoculum. Rate of gas production (c) did not differ among the treatments. Asymptotic of gas production (b) was higher for diets containing supplemental copper compared to control. It seems that supplementation of fattening lamb diet with of organic copper could be improved rumen fermentation and performance of lambs.

The effect of replacing alfalfa by artichoke hay on nutrient digestibility، gas production parameters، performance and carcass characteristics of Lori-Bakhtiari lambs was studied. The lambs in control group received diet containing 30 percent alfalfa، 15 percent barley straw and 55 percent concentrate and in test group alfalfa hay was replaced with artichoke hay، completely. Dry matter intake was higher for test group lambs (P<0. 05)، but average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were not differed between experimental groups. Gas production rate was not differed between groups، but b fraction was higher for test group (P<0. 05). Replacing alfalfa by artichoke caused to increasing digestibility of dry matter and organic matter (P<0. 05). However، control diet had higher digestibility of crude protein and NDF (P<0. 05). After slaughter، there were no significant differences between groups in carcass characteristics and percentage of internal organs. Results of this study showed that artichoke hay could be replaced with alfalfa hay in finishing lambs diet.

This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of different zinc (Zn) sources on performance، blood mineral and cell counts of Zandi lambs. 18 male lambs at weaning were supplemented with two different sources of zinc، 25 ppm ZnSO4 and 25 ppm zinc-peptide added to the basal diet as control. Live body weight، weight gain and feed efficiency improved with Zn-peptide supplementation (P 0. 05). Sera Zn concentration was higher and copper and iron concentration was lower in zinc supplemented groups (P<0. 05). Supplementation of zinc had no effect on blood cell counts except for white blood cells that decreased with zinc peptide supplementation (P<0. 05). It was concluded that adding 25 ppm zinc peptide to fattening lamb diet improved performance and cause to higher level of blood zinc.

In this study, about 1000 kg of wet Rose Flower pulp were obtained from Ghamsar – Kashan in Iran and dried in air for 10 days. The DM, CP, Ash, EE, total extractable phenols, total tannin, Ca and P of Rose flower extraction pulp (RFEP) were 96.0, 12.5, 6.5, 1.8, 2.7, 1.3, 1.1 and 0.1 percent, respectively. Four adult Chaal sheep in a changeover design used for determination of digestibility, dry matter intake and nitrogen balance. The sheep fed by four diets with different ratio of RFEP: alfalfa (0.0:100, 15:85, 30:70 and 45:55). Digestibility of DM and OM were not affected by experimental diets. Inclusion of 30 percent or more RFEP, decreased CP digestibility (P< 0.05). Dry matter intake was not affected by inclusion of different levels of RFEP in diets. The nitrogen balance of diets including zero, 15, 30 and 45 precent RFEP were 3.1, 2.6, 1.4 and 1.1 gram per day, respectively (P< 0.05). The DM and CP effective degradability of RFEP were 68.5 and 67.8, respectively. It seems that Rose flower extraction pulp can be used as a part of roughage in the ruminant’s diet.

An experiment was conducted by incorporating 35 newborn Balouchi lambs to study the effects of different type and levels of forage in starter diets on rumen development characteristics and performance. The 5 experimental treatments were included; starter diet without forage (control) and starter diet containing two levels (7.5 and 15%) of alfalfa hay and wheat straw. Inclusion of forages increased abrasive value (P=0.001), average particle size (P=0.006), peNDF (P=0.0002), BUN (P