Effects of Potato Pulp Silage on Lamb Performance

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of substituting barley with potato pulp silage prepared with ground barley straw and wheat bran on fattening performance of fatty tailed Akkaraman and long tailed Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (B1) cross- breed lambs. In this study,two different diets were prepared iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. Control group based on barleys diet and experimental group based on potato pulp which is includes 10 % of dry matter content of barley diets. In this trial, 28 Akkaraman lambs and 52 Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (B1) cross-breed lambs totaly 80 lambs were used. Average live weight of animals 30.20 and 27.00 kg respectively. Age of animals were 6-7 mounth old. Akkaraman and Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (B1) cross-breed lambs were seperated into 2 groups randomly, when study started all lambs had similar live weight and all lambs were fed both 2 diets throughout 55 days. Daily feed consumption of animals were measured biweekly and dry matter intake of lambs were equalised. Weight of all lambs measured bi-weekly to determine live weight gains, Daily live weight gains and feed conversion ratio. Total live weight gain of Akkaraman and Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (B1) cross-breed lambs which consumed potato pulp silage was (15.19 kg and 13.83 kg) respectively and daily live weight gain of both breeds were (0.28 kg and 0.25 kg) respectively. Another group of lambs which consumed barley diet their total live weight gain and daily live weight gain were (14.95 kg and 12.80 kg, 0.27 kg and 0.23 kg) respectively results were similar to the first results (P >0.05) however, Akkaraman lambs’ feed utilization rates (3.92 kg and 3.96 kg) were found to be better (4.30 kg and 4.59 kg) than Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (B1) hybrids. Based on the results of this study, substituting barley’s energy with potato pulp silage at 10 % on dry matter basis has positive effect on the fattening performance, and daily live weight gains of lambs.