Abstract
The effect of feeding different levels (0, 30 and 50%) of crushed date pits (CDP), with or without enzyme cocktail (EC), on the growth performance, blood constituents, and economical efficiency of the growing Naimi lambs was studied. Results of this study showed significantly (P<0.05) lower final live body weight, total weight gain and higher total feed conversion ratio (TFCR) of lambs fed 50% CDP without EC when compared with other four groups. Addition of EC to the 50% CDP improved the performance of the lambs regarding the weight gain, final body weight and TFCR. There were no negative effects of feeding CDP with or without EC in term of monthly and total feed intake. The significant lowest and the highest TFCR values were recorded for the 0% and 50% CDP without EC groups, respectively. A significantly higher cholesterol levels were reported for lambs fed CDP without EC compared with other groups. In addition, glucose levels in the blood of lambs fed CDP with or without EC were significantly higher compared with the 0% CDP, but the opposite trend for the creatinine levels (P<0.01) was found. In conclusion, up to 50% of barley can be replaced by crushed date pits with enzyme cocktail in the Naimi lambs ration without any adverse effect on growth performance with almost the same economic efficiency.