Effects of different levels of green tea waste on weight gain, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen retention in feedlot lambs

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of green tea waste (GTW) on gain performance, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance in feedlot lambs. For this purpose, four experimental treatments with 0, 2, 4 and 6 percent of dry matter GTW were used. The amount of final body weight, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significant among treatments with 2, 4 and 6% GTW (P<0.05) but there was no significant difference between treatment with 2% GTW and control in relation to performance. Treatment contain 2% GTW had the highest value of CP digestibility among the treatments (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in DM and OM digestibility of 2% GTW treatment and control group, but they were significantly more than other treatments (P<0.05). Nitrogen retention of 2% GTW treatment was not significantly different from control treatment, but it was significantly more than other treatments (P< 0.05). The amount of ammonia nitrogen of rumen liquor was significantly lesser in GTW treatments than control (P<0.05). The concentration of blood urea nitrogen was significantly lesser in GTW treatments than control (P<0.05). According to the results, using GTW in 2% level (DM) of lamb’s feedlot diet improved performance because of better digestibility and nitrogen balance.