Investigation of Physical Effectiveness of Grape Pomace in Comparison to Alfalfa Hay in Makui Sheep

This research was carried out to compare the physical effectiveness of grape pomace(GP) with alfalfa hay in Makui sheep. Four adult male Makui sheep with 40±1.2 Kg livebody weight were selected. In this experiment, three treatments including alfalfa hay asa basal diet (control), white GP (WGP) and red (RGP) were separately substituted at50:50 in a ratio with alfalfa hay as experimental diets. The diets were fed over 10 days. Chewing activity of sheep was determined by direct visual observation over 24 h and physical effectiveness factors was done using Penn state separator sieves method. The result of this study showed that the value for physical effective NDF in basal diet was significantly more than WGP and RGP. The physical effective NDF of basal, RGP and WGP was 0.96, 0.68 and 0.61, %, respectively. The distribution of particle on 19 (P<0.0004), 8 (P<0.0001), 1.18 (P<0.0037) sieves were significantly different. Chewing time for basal ration, RGP and WGP mixes was significantly different. The results of the current experiment showed that substitution of alfalfa hay with GP significantly decreased total chewing activity and rumination time in experimental animals in comparison to those were fed with alfalfa hay.