Encapsulation of soybean meal and barley grain with calcium soap of sunflower fatty acids: Effects on growth performance and carcass characteristics in Mahabadi kids

Twenty-four Mahabadi goat kids with age of 3–4 months and initial body weight of 18.5 ± 0.5 kg were used to investigate the encapsulated soybean meal and barley grain with calcium soap of sunflower oil in a completely randomized design. Encapsulation of soybean meal and barley grain were evaluated on goat kids’ performance, carcass characteristics, and nutrient digestibility and blood metabolites. Before running the in vivo experiment, the ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of protected products were tested using in vitro and in situ techniques to prove the effectiveness of fat coating. For in vivo experiment, goat kids were fed by four dietary treatments for 104 days with 2 weeks in the beginning as adaptation and covariate period and 90 days as an experimental period. Treatments were basal diet (Control), a basal diet contained 40 g/kg of encapsulated barley grain (PB), a basal diet contained 40 g/kg of encapsulated soybean meal (PS), and a basal diet contained 40 g/kg of encapsulated barely grain plus 40 g/kg of encapsulated soybean meal (PB+PS). Encapsulation of barley grain and soybean meal with fat significantly reduced (P < 0.01) their ruminal degradability and increased (P < 0.01) their post-ruminal digestibility, however, there was no significant difference in total tract digestibility of protected products compared to control. Inclusion of these bypass products in goat kids' diet didn’t result in any significant difference in performance and carcass characteristics of goat kids. The results of the current study demonstrated that the coating of carbohydrate and protein sources by Ca-soap of sunflower fatty acids can be used as an effective approach to reducing rumen degradability without any significant deleterious effect on their intestinal and total tract digestibility, performance and carcass characteristics.