The effect of using different dietary levels of tannin extracted pistachio by-product on the performance and nutrients digestibility in fattening lambs

Pistachio by-product is one of the subsidiary agricultural products which has been used in livestock feeding in recent years. Reliable research on these products indicates that pistachio waste can be used as part of the ruminant animal feed. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of supplementing different levels of tannin extracted pistachio by-products in the diet of fattening lambs on their performance and on dry matter, organic matter, neutral detergent fiber and protein digestibility.
Material and Twenty-four Afshari male lambs with an average weight of 30.2±1.5 were used, for this experiment. Lambs were randomly divided into four groups (treatments) of six replicates (lambs). This experiment was performed in a completely randomized design with four treatments including: 1- control or the diet without pistachio by products 2- the diet containing 10% tannin extracted pistachio by-product 3- the diet containing 20% tannin extracted pistachio by-product and 4- the diet containing 30% pistachio tannin extracted byproduct. An adaptation period of 14 days and an experimental period of 84 days were considered for this experiment. During the experiment, the performance variables, including average daily gain, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and final weight were measured. Representative feed and feces samples were collected during five days on day 75 of the experiment and the nutrient digestibility were determined using Acid Insoluble Ash as internal marker.
The results showed that different levels of tannin extracted pistachio by-products had a significant effect on daily feed intake (P Based on the findings of this study, tannin extracted pistachio can be used up to 20% in the diet of fattening lambs, without adverse effect on their performance