Effects of Different Level of Gamma Irradiation on Barley and Soybean Seeds on Rumen Degradation Rate and Performance of Lambs

To investigate the effects of different levels of gamma irradiation on degradation rate of barley and soybean seeds and performance of lambs, this study were done. In the first experiment barley and soybean seeds were irradiated with 2 doses of gamma irradiation and degradation rate were estimated in different incubation times. Results of current study showed that gamma irradiation increased the “a” fraction and decreased “b” fraction of barley DM, but “a” fraction of barley crude protein was decreased and “b” fraction was increased (P0.05). Weight gain was significantly affected by irradiation treatments. Gamma irradiation with dose of 75 KGy significantly improved feed conversion ratio (P0.05). Regard to the results of current study, 50 KGy gamma irradiation has significant effects on by pass of protein resources and use of starch in the diets. Thus, we can use irradiation to get the better performance in ruminant nutrition.