Performance and nutrient utilization of cross-bred sheep fed yeast and herb supplemented paddy straw based complete feed

A growth trial of 60 days was conducted on 20 male crossbred lambs of 8-9 months old, divided in four groups of five lambs in each group with T0 (un-supplemented), T1 (Herb supplemented), T2 (Yeast supplemented) and T3 (Combination of herb and yeast). The lambs were fed a complete feed containing paddy straw 60 parts and concentrate mixture 40 parts on DM basis, supplemented with yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2×1010cfu/g) @ 3 g/kg DM (T2), herb (Urtica diocia) @ 3% (T1). In T3 group combination of yeast @3 g/kg DM and herb @ 3% DM was supplemented to complete feed while complete feed without supplementation served as control (T0) The dry matter and organic matter intake was with significantly (P<0.01) higher in yeast supplemented groups alone and in combination (T2 and T3) with non-significant difference between herb (T1) and control (T0) group. Total gain and average gain in body weight was significantly (P<0.01) higher in feed additive (T1, T2 and T3) groups with better FCR than control (T0). Regarding digestibility of nutrients, a highly significant (P<0.01) effect on digestibility of DM, OM, CP, EE, CF, NFE, NDF, ADF, hemi-cellulose and cellulose were observed in feed additive supplemented groups. All the animals of different treatment groups were found to be in positive mineral balance, with significantly higher values in feed additive supplemented groups than control. The DCP, TDN, DE and ME content of ration was found significantly (P<0.01) higher in feed additive supplemented groups with nutritive ratio (NR) highest in control. Intakes of digestible DM, OM, CP and TDN were also significantly (P<0.01) higher in supplemented groups in comparison to control. The feeding cost per kg live weight gain were significantly (P<0.01) lower for feed additives supplemented groups compared to control group which was obviously due to better nutrient utilisation that supported higher growth rate of sheep in the respective groups.