The effects of raisin waste on performance, blood parameters and volatile fatty acids of ruminal fluid in Baluchi male lambs

An experiment was conducted for evaluation the effects of raisin waste (RW) on the performance, blood parameters and volatile fatty acids (VFA). Numbers of 15 Baluchi male lambs (average weight of 21.15±0.67 kg) were allocated to 3 treatments with a completely randomized design. Experimental treatments included: 1) control (40% alfalfa and no RW), 2) replacement of 50% alfalfa with RW and 3) replacement of 100% alfalfa with RW. Using RW in treatments 2 and 3 had a significant effect on average daily gain compared with control ration (P<0.05). With increasing the amount of RW in the ration, the total protein of serum (TPP) decreased significantly (P<0.05) in the first period of experiment (14-28 days). However, other blood parameters such as glucose, cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (AST), triglycerides (TG), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were not affected by the treatments (P>0.05). The level of TG, AST, TPP and BUN decreased compared with control ration (P<0.05) within the second period of experiment (42-56 days). The lowest amount of acetic acid and valeric acid within the first period of the experiment was for treatment 3, while the highest level of valeric acid and isovaleric acid within the second period was for treatment 1( P<0.05). Adding RW to the ration had no significant effect on pH of ruminal fluid (P>0.05). Overall results showed that replacing part of alfalfa with RW as a low cost product not only had no negative-impact on the studied parameters in Baluchi lambs but it also improved their performance.