Ameliorating the anti-nutritional factors effect in Atriplex halimus on sheep and goats by ensiling or polyethylene glycol supplementation

Succulent twigs of Atriplex halimus naturally grown in Nubaria desert area, Egypt were cut and sun dried (AH), or ensiled (AS). The AH was offered either alone or with daily supplementation of polyethylene glycol (20 g PEG/kg DMI) as a tannin complexing agent to three mature male Rahmany sheep and three mature male baladi goats. Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) hay (BH) was used as a control. Animals were offered crushed barley grains to cover 50% of maintenance requirements, while tested forages were offered ad lib. The nutrients proximate analysis of BH was comparable to that of A. halimus. The average daily DM intake by both sheep and goats from BH (32.0 g/kg w 0.75) was higher (P less than 0.01) than AK AS and AH + PEG, which ranged between 20.40 arid 22.74 g/kg w 0.75, due to A. halimus high content of total tannins (95.6 g/kg DM) and its high contents of ash and NaCl. Nutrients digestibility coefficients of BH ration were better (P less than 0.01) than those of AH and AH + PEG rations, meanwhile they were comparable to those AS one. Ensiled A. halimus showed better digestibilities than AH alone (P less than 0.01) or with PEG supplementation, but the differences were only significant (P less than 0.01) with CF and NFE. Crude protein digestibility of AH was raised (P less than 0.01) from 49.3% without PEG to 54.19% with PEG. Moreover, N balance (P less than 0.01) and its % of N intake were also high. Supplementing animals fed A. halimus by PEG improved (P greater than 0.01) N balance and its % to N intake, being 9.68% vs. 8.03%. It was concluded that ensiling A. halimus showed better nutritional results by sheep and goats than PEG supplementation. Moreover, it is easier to be practiced and could be lowered feeding costs.