Biological effects of grape pomace on performance parameters and blood metabolites of fattening lambs

The aim of this study is to investigate the biological effects of grape pomace on growth parameters and metabolites blood of fattened lambs. About six tons of black grape pomace extracted from the fruit juice production process in Alifard Co (Sunich). Pomaces were dried and stored in enclosed air conditioned premises of lab in Animal Sciences Research Institute (ASRI). Grape pomace and alfalfa forages chemical compositions including GE, CP, NDF, Ash, NFC, TP, TT and EE were obtained by AOAC method. Performance parameters including daily weight gain, FCR and MCR (Kaleybar) were also determined by NRC. For male Afshari lambs, grape pomaces in five different levels (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 %) were replaced with alfalfa forages. Blood metabolites such as glucose, total nitrogen and BUN were measured every 28 days. The results were as follows; Chemical composition of the grape pomace and alfalfa forages got different (P<0.05). A sensible difference was observed in daily weight gain, FCR and MCR as well as blood metabolites of the examined lambs (P<0.05). At the end, the highest performance of the fattened lambs was observed in experimental treatment using 60% of alfalfa forage and 40% grape pomace. Therefore appropriate usage of the grape pomace increases the production and decreases the cost of the feeding of the lambs.