ELSEVIER Small Ruminant Research 2 I (1996) 203-2 I I

Feeding dairy ewes and goats and growing mixtures of supplements

M. Hadjipanayiotou Koumas, G. Hadjigavriel, Photiou, M. Theodoridou

Agricultural Research Institute. P.O. Box 2016, 1516 Nicosia. Cyprus

Accepted 17 November 1995

Abstract

In two trials, with 86 lactating Chios ewes and with 66 Damascus goats, the effect of protein source (soybean (SB) or mixture of SB and meat meal (MM)) on pre- and post-weaning lactation performance and the pre-weaning growth rate of their offspring was studied. In another three trials with early weaned Damascus kids (SO f 3 days of age) and Chios lambs (42 + 3 days of age) the effect of level of inclusion of soybean meal (SB) and of partial replacement of SB with either fish meal (FM) or MM on their performance was studied. The diets in Trial 1 with a total of 81 kids were SBH (high level of SB), SBL (low level of SB) and FM (partial replacement of the low level SB with fish meal); the diets in Trials 2 (112 Damascus kids) and 3 (165 Chios lambs) were SBH (high level of SB), SBL (low level of SB), MMH (partial replacement of high level SB with MM) and MML (partial replacement of low level SB with MM). Total milk yield, milk suckled, milk sold, BW changes of ewes and goats on the two diets and growth rate of their offspring until weaning did not differ between supplements (P > 0.1). During the post-weaning period, there were no differences (P > 0.1) between diets in either milk yield or milk composition. Kids fed the SBH diet grew faster (P < 0.02) than those fed the SBL diet (Trial 1). In contrast, there were no differences between SBH and FM and/or SBL and FM diets. Kids fed the MMH (Trial 2) diet gained more BW (P < 0.012) than those on the SBH and SBL diets; there were no differences between MMH and MML diets and/or among diets MML, SBH and SBL. In Trial 3 with lambs, no differences were noted among diets (P > 0.1). In all three trials, males were heavier than females at the commencement and at the end of the trial. We conclude that partial replacement of SB by MM will not increase milk yield of ewes and goats. However, meat and soybean meals can replace each other. With regard to fattening offspring it is concluded that (1) MM and FM can successfully replace SB, (2) their inclusion may improve animal performance and (3) combination of SB with either MM or FM will result in satisfactory growth even at lower levels of dietary CP. The selection among the protein supplements used can be made on the basis of cost per unit of protein.

Keywords: Soybean meal; Meat meal; Fish meal; Ewes; Goats; Lambs; Kids; Milk yield

1. Introduction

* Corresponding author: Tel. +357-Z-305 101; Fax. + 357-2- High-producing dairy and young fast-growing ru-

316770; Email. ari@nicosia.ccs.ucy.ac.cy. minants have protein requirements that exceed the

00921-4488/96/$15.00 Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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204 M. Hadjipanayiotou et al. /Small Ruminant Research 21 (1996) 203-21 I

amount provided by bacterial protein and might ben- efit from supplementation of a protein protected from ruminal degradation (ARC, 1980). Protein re- quirements for high-producing ruminant animals are being reevaluated, and new systems include both dietary protein level and provision for differential degradabilities of feed protein (ARC, 1984; ARFC, 1992). The use of protein supplements of low rumi- nal degradability in diets for high producing rumi- nant animals has received considerable attention in anticipation of enhanced performance; however, re- sults have been inconsistent (Keery and Amos, 1993). Heat treatment has been recognized as an effective way to reduce protein degradation in the rumen. Feeding of heat-treated soybean (SB) meal increased milk yield of high producing lactating cows during early lactation (Sahlu et al., 1984). Application of heat to meat meal (MM) during the dry rendering process may be beneficial in providing a protein of low ruminal degradability to ruminants. Lu et al. (1990) reported a 7% increase in the average milk yield (an 11% increase in 4% FCM) of does fed diets (15% CP) that contained meat and bone meal com- pared with those fed SB-based diets. Stock et al. (198 1) reported that feeding blood and meat meal in conjunction with urea to growing steers may de- crease the cost of protein supplementation, while providing performance equal to or better than that of SB meal-based diet.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Studies with lactating animals

Milk response to an increased supply of unde- graded protein, however, has not always occurred (Orskov et al., 1981). One important factor might be the amino acid profile of the undegraded protein entering the small intestine. The amino acid profile of fish meal (FM) and many of the animal by-prod- uct meals is excellent (Rooke, 1985). Therefore, combinations of slowly degraded protein sources to provide an optimum amino acid pattern for the lower tract may be desirable.

Two trials, one with 86 lactating Chios ewes and another with 66 Damascus goats were carried out to study the effect of protein source (SB meal vs. a combination of SB with meat meal) on pre- and post-weaning lactation performance and the pre- weaning performance of their offspring. Lambs and kids had access to colostrum during the first 48 h after parturition. On the third day post-lambing, suckling Chios ewes were randomly placed to the two treatment diets. Goats were allocated to treat- ment based on their milk yield recorded at about 15 days post-kidding. During the pre-weaning period animals were offered concentrate ad libitum along with 0.2 kg alfalfa hay (21.6% CP, 11.3% ash, 25.2% CFi and 9.4 MJ ME per kg, DM basis) and 0.7 (ewes) or 0.6 (goats) kg barley hay (8.9% CP, 10.9% ash, 33.1% CFi and 8.3 MJ ME per kg, DM basis) per animal daily. Animals within diet, within species were group housed (8-12 animals per pen) in adjacent pens (four pens per diet per species). During the post-weaning period animals were fed on concentrate (see Table 1) plus barley hay (similar to that used during the pre-weaning period) and barley straw (5% CP, 5.7% ash, 39.2% CFi and 6.56 MJ ME per kg, DM basis) to meet their energy require- ments. Feed allowance was adjusted once a week during the course of the post-weaning period. Total energy requirements were the sum for maintenance plus production requirements. Maintenance energy requirements were 0.4 MJ ME per kgo.73 per day and the dietary energy requirements (MJ ME) for produc- tion were estimated according to Economides (1986) from the energy value in milk (goats, Y = 1.64 + 0.42 X; ewes, Y = 1.94 + 0.43X) divided by 0.62 (where X is fat percentage and 0.62 is the efficiency of utilization of dietary ME for milk production).

The objectives of our experiments were to study Total milk yield, residual milk and milk con- the effect of two sources of protein (SB meal or sumed by kids were recorded for the goats using the mixture of SB and meat meal) on the pre- and suckling technique (Hadjipanayiotou, 1986). Individ- post-weaning lactation performance of Chios ewes ual residual milk yield of ewes was recorded once a and Damascus goats and the pre-weaning growth of week before weaning. Milk suckled by lambs (Y) their offspring, and the effect of feeding SB as the was calculated from regression equations with BW only protein source or in a mixture with FM and/or gain (X,) and weaning age (X,) as variables MM at two dietary concentrations on the post-wean- (Economides, 1984). Separate equations were used ing growth rate of Chios lambs and Damascus kids. for each type of suckling (single or twin) and sex

M. Hudjipanayiotou et al. /Small Ruminant Resenrch 21 (I 996) 203-21 I 205

combination of suckling lambs. Lambs were weighed at birth, on the day the ewes were placed on the experimental diets, at the commencement of partial suckling (around 28 days postpartum) and at wean- ing. Kids were also weighed on the days that milk was recorded. Suckling lambs and kids had free access to their dam from birth to 28 days and 38 days of age, respectively, but only for 8 h daily from 29 days and 39 days of age until weaning (lambs 42, kids 50 + 3 days). Suckling lambs and kids had free access to their dams’ feed, and from 10 days of age lambs and kids had access to a creep feed and lucerne hay. The lamb/kid creep feed was in pel- leted form (5-mm cubes) and composed (%, as fed basis) of: 77.4 barley grain, 16.4 SB meal, 5.0 wheat bran, 0.7 limestone, 0.3 salt and 0.2 Vita 6. The vitamin-trace element mixture (Vita 6, Vita-Trace Nutrition, Cyprus) supplied 6000 IU Vitamin A, 1000 IU Vitamin D,, 8.5 IU Vitamin E, 23 mg Mn, 1.75 mg I, 45 mg Zn, 30 mg Fe, 2 mg Co and 60 mg Mg per kg concentrate mixture (as fed basis).

Surplus milk (milk not consumed by offspring), was removed by machine once daily in the 14:30 h. During the post-weaning period, animals were milked

by machine twice daily (07:OO and 14:OO) on non- milk recording days, and by hand on milk recording days because of lack of milk recording jars. Milk yield of ewes and goats was recorded twice weekly during the post-weaning period. Representative sam- ples from morning and afternoon milking were taken twice during the post-weaning period and analyzed for fat and protein (MAFF, 1973). Changes in milk yield or milk composition associated with method of milking were considered to be similar for the two

treatments. Ewes and goats were weighed at deliv- ery, commencement of the trial, at weaning of off- spring and at the end of the post-weaning experimen- tal period. Concentrates and roughage were offered from separate feed containers. Formulation and chemical composition of the concentrate mixtures are shown in Table 1. The, within each trial, concen- trate mixtures were prepared from the same batch of basic ingredients. Soybean and meat meal were pur- chased from commercial sources and their exact previous processing was unknown. Proximate con- stituents and other analyses were made on bulk, ground (1 mm) samples of feed as outlined by Harris (1970).

Table 1 Formulation (%, as fed) and chemical composition (%, DM basis) of concentrate mixtures

Ingredients

Barley gram

Soybean meal (SB) Fish meal (FM)

Meat meal (MM)

Wheat bran

Limestone

salt Vita 6 h

Dairy trials Fattening trials

Trial 1 Trials 2 and 3

SB a MMa SBH SBL PM SBH SBL MMH MML

80.8 81.8 71.4 82.8 86.2 71.4 82.8 79.2 83.8

12.0 5.5 16.4 11.0 1.8 16.4 11.0 7.3 5.0 _ 5.8 _ _ _

_ 5.5 _ _ _ 7.3 5.0

5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0

1.3 1.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Chemical composition (%, DM basis)

DM 88.2 88.7 90. I 88.7 89.0 88.5 88.4 88.5 88.7

CP(N X 6.25) 17.0 17.2 18.8 16.2 16.4 18.8 16.8 19.1 17.0

Ash 4.7 6.4 5.0 4.9 4.2 4.7 4.3 6.8 5.8

CFi 5.2 5.3 ND ND ND 6.0 6.1 6.8 5.9

a SB, soybean meal as protein supplement; MM, mixture of soybean and meat meal as protein source; SBH, diet with high level of soya;

SBL, diet with low level of soya; FM, the low level of soya was partially replaced with fish meal; MMH, diet of high crude protein content with a mixture of SB and meat meal; MML, diet of low protein content with a mixture of soya and meat meal.

b Vitamin-trace element mixture: it was exactly the same for all concentrate mixtures; for its composition see Materials and methods. CFi, crude fibre; ND, not determined.

206 M. Hudjipmuyiotou et al. /Smull Ruminant Research 21 (1996) 203-211

Lamb/kid data collected during the pre-weaning period were analyzed using a General Linear Model procedure (SAS Institute Inc., 1989) that accounted for diet (SB, MM), type of suckling (single, twin), sex of suckling offspring (male, female) and their interactions (diet X type of suckling, diet X sex of suckling offspring, type of suckling X sex of suck- ling offspring and diet X type of suckling X sex of suckling offspring); ewe and goat data collected in the same period were analyzed using a General Linear Model procedure (SAS Institute Inc., 1989) that accounted for diet, type of suckling combination

(one male, one female, two males, two females, one male and one female) and their interactions. Ewe/goat post-weaning data were analyzed by one- way (diet) analysis of variance.

2.2. Studies with fattening lambs and kids

Three trials, two with early weaned Damascus kids (50 f 3 days of age) and one with early weaned Chios lambs (42 f 3 days of age) were carried out to study the effect of partial replacement of SB with either FM or MM on their performance.

Table 2

Pre- and post-weaning performance of Chios ewes and Damascus goats on two sources of dietary protein

Pre-weaning period Ewes Goats

SB a MM a SD SB MM SD

No. of animals 44 42 32 34 _ Days on test 42 42 _ 31.2 31.2 1.77 NS

Total milk (kg day- ’ ) 3.68 3.59 0.56 NS 3.54 3.41 0.85 NS

Milk suckled (kg day ’ ) 2.36 2.38 0.23 iv’ 2.60 2.57 0.42 NS

Milk sold (kg day-’ ) I .32 1.21 0.24 NS 0.94 0.85 0.70 NS

Initial BW (kg) 76.9 76.3 8.19 NS 77.2 74.0 10.2 NS

Final BW (kg) 73.5 73.4 6.98 NS 71.0 69.5 9.82 NS

BW changes (g day-‘) -78 -65 99 NS - 199 - 146 154 NS

Feed intake (kg as fed per animal per day)

Concentrate 2.45

Barley hay 0.7 Alfalfa hay 0.2

2.45 2.5 2.5

0.7 0.6 0.6

0.2 _ 0.2 0.20

_

_

Post-weaning period

Days on test

No. of animals

Milk yield (kg day - ’ )

40 40 42 42

42 42 29 29

1.78 1.75 0.50 NS 2.6 I 2.33

_

0.70 NS

Milk composition (%o)

Fat Protein (N X 6.38)

FCM (6% fat) (kg day- ’ ) FCM (4% fat) (kg day- ’ ) Initial BW (kg) Final BW (kg)

BW changes (g day-’ )

6.1

5.9

1.79 _ 73.6 73.3

- 12

6.5 0.91 NS 5.9 0.38 NS 1.80 .44 NS

4.6 4.7

4.3 4.2

73.1 7.08 NS 72.6 7.61 NS -20 96 NS

_

2.80

70.8 72.8

47

2.55

70.4 71.9

35

0.65 NS

0.44 NS _

.70 NS

10.1 NS 9.81 NS

83.8 NS

Feed intake (kg as fed per animal per day) Concentrate 1.96 Barley hay 0.72

1.94 _

0.71

2.14 2.14

0.56 0.56

0.16 0.16 Straw 0.12 0.11 _

a SB, soybean meal as protein source; MM, mixture of soybean and meat meal as protein source. NS, not significant (P > 0.1) and refers

to comparisons between diets within trials.

M. Hudjipanayiotou er al. /Small Ruminant Research 21 (I 996) 203-21 I 207

Table 3 Performance of lambs and kids until weaning

Lambs Kids

SB ’ MM ’ SD SB MM SD

No. of animals 74 70 53 54

Birth weight (kg) 4.0 4.2 0.72 NS 4.4 4.4 0.6 NS

Initial weight (kg) -2 -2 1.8: 7.6 7.5 1.39 NS

Weaning weight (kg) 15.4 15.7 NS 15.3 14.9 2.51 NS

Weight gain (g day-’ 1 257 260 38.7 NS 212 a 203 43 NS

248 b 235 50 NS

Milk suckled (kg) 62.4 63.3 9.00 48.9 50.8 11.01 NS

Milk/gain ratio 5.51 5.55 0.39 4.6 a 5.0 1.19 NS

6.5 h 7.1 1.57 NS

Initial weight (kg) 4.0 4.2 0.72 7.6 7.5 1.35 NS

Days on test 44.4 44.3 2.47 NS 31.1 31.3 1.61 NS

Weaning age (days) 44.4 44.3 2.47 NS 51.4 52. I 3.68 NS

’ SB, soybean meal as protein source; MM, mixture of soybean and meat meal as protein source; NS, not significant, P > 0.1.

2 Due to the fact that ewes were placed on the diets at 3 days postpartum birth BW was similar to initial BW. Superscripts a and b refer to

milk to gain ratio from birth to weaning and from the allocation to diets to weaning, respectively.

Animals of the same diet and sex were group housed in adjacent pens and were given ad libitum access to concentrates and 0.1 kg per animal daily of good quality lucerne hay (21.3% CP, DM basis). The concentrate mixtures (Table 1) were pelleted (5mm cubes) and contained 37 mg of lasalocid sodium per kg of mixture (as fed). Food residues were recorded weekly. Representative samples of food offered and refused were collected, bulked and analyzed as out- lined by Harris (1970). Animals had free access to water. Live weights were recorded at the commence- ment, at the end and at fortnightly intervals during the course of the trial.

2.2.1. Trial 1 Eighty-one male Damascus kids, 45 in Replica-

tion 1 (67 f 4.8 days of age) and 36 in Replication 2 (58 + 5.4 days of age) were used. Animals within each replication were divided on the basis of BW and age into three groups. Groups were randomly allocated to the concentrate mixtures (Table I>, and housed in adjacent pens (one pen per diet per replica- tion). Following weaning (50 f 3 days of age), and before allocation to treatment diets, they were fed a pelleted (5-mm cubes) concentrate mixture (SBH, Table 1) offered ad libitum along with 0.1 kg of lucerne hay per animal daily. The fattening period lasted for 43 days and 47 days in Replications 1 and 2, respectively. Data collected were analyzed using a

model that accounted for diet, replication, and their interaction.

2.2.2. Trial 2

One hundred and twelve Damascus kids of 54.6 f 3.36 days of age were used. Feeding and manage- ment of kids following weaning were similar to Trial

Table 4

Performance of Damascus kids on two levels of soybean meal

(SB) in the concentrate mixture and/or a mixture of SB and fish

meal (FM) (Trial 1)

Diet

SBH’ SBL’ FM’ SE

No. of animals 21 27 27 -

Initial BW (kg) 17.8 17.9 17.9 0.44 NS.RRR

Final BW (kg) 30.4 29.9 28.8 0.73 NS.RRR

BW gain 282 a 244 b 270 ab 9.7 P < ““Z.RRR

(g per head per day)

Concentrate intake 974 951 972 -

(g per head per day)

Concentrate/BW

gain 3.45 3.89 3.6 -

’ SBH, diet with a high level of soya; SBL, diet with a low level

of soya; FM, the low level of soya was partially replaced by fish

meal. Superscripts in the SE column: first superscript refers to diet effect (NS, not significant, BW gain diet effect significant at P <

0.02); second superscript RRR replication effect significant at P

< 0.001.

208 M. Hadjipanayiotou et al. /Small Ruminant Research 21 (I 996) 203-21 I

1. Animals within sex were divided into four groups. Groups were randomly allocated to the four treat- ment diets (Table 1). Animals were group housed in adjacent pens (two pens per diet), sexes kept apart. Feeding and management of experimental animals was similar to that of Trial 1. Animals were on the experimental diets for 68 days, and each individual animal was an experimental unit. Data collected were analyzed using a model that accounted for diet (SBH, SBL, MMH, MML), sex (male, female) and their interaction.

2.2.3. Trial 3

One hundred and sixty-five early weaned (42 + 3 days of age) Chios lambs were used. Treatments were the same as in Trial 2. Lambs were on test for 42 days. Housing, management and allocation of animals to treatments and analysis of data collected was similar to that of Trial 2.

3. Results

3.1. Lactating ewes and goats

Diet did not affect total milk yield, milk suckled, milk sold, initial and final BW and BW changes of ewes and goats until weaning (Table 2). Moreover,

during the post-weaning period, there were no differ- ences between diets in either ewes or goats for any of the measurements presented in Table 2.

Performance of lambs and kids until weaning is in Table 3. There were no differences between diets for any of the measurements presented in Table 3. Kids

required more time than lambs to reach a similar BW at weaning because the latter were growing faster. None of the interactions for the various combinations of suckling were significant (P > 0.1).

Table 5

Performance of Damascus kids (Trial 2) and Chios lambs (Trial 3) on two sources of dietary protein at two levels each

Species Diet Sex N Initial Final BW gain Concentr. Concentrate/BW gain

BW (kg) BW (kg) (gday-‘) intake

(g per head day- ’ )

Kids SBH

SBL

MMH

MML

SD

Lambs SBH

SBL

MMH

MML

SD

6 14

SQ 14 14

Q 14

6 14

dp 14 14

Q II

8 25

dp 23 17

Q 16

6 24 Q 17

6 23 Q 16

16.5 31.3 217 806 3.71

13.9 28.7 218 796 3.65 16.5 31.5 220 793 3.62

14.0 27.0 192 719 3.74

16.3 33.6 254 836 3.29

13.9 30. I 239 793 3.32

16.5 32.2 235 817 3.48

13.9 24.3 207 675 3.46 2.48 S’s 4.58 DsSS 46 oo.s _a _a

16.5 31.1 351 946 2.70

14.7 25.9 270 824 3.05

16.8 31.3 349 982 2.81

14.3 26.0 285 774 2.72

16.6 31.8 363 1000 2.75 14.7 25.9 271 818 3.02 16.3 32.1 377 1020 2.71

14.8 25.9 270 812 3.01

2.88 S’s 4.11 sss 51 sss _a _a

SBH, diet with high level of SB meal; SBL, diet with low level of SB meal; MMH, diet of high CP content with a mixture of SB and meat meal (MM); MML, diet of low CP content with a mixture of SB and MM.

D, diet effect significant P < 0.05; DD, diet effect significant, P < 0.01.

S, sex effect significant P < 0.05; SSS, sex effect significant, P < 0.001.

a Not analyzed statistically (group feeding).

M. Haa’jipanayiotou et al. /Small Ruminant Research 21 (1996) 203-21 I 209

In both species, type of suckling affected (P < 0.001) milk suckled and total milk yield; milk suck- led and milk yield of dams rearing twins was greater than of those rearing single offspring. Commercial milk yield was greater (P < 0.05) from single- than from twin-suckling goats. Suckling male lambs (P < 0.008) and kids (P < 0.003) were heavier than females at birth and at weaning.

3.2. Fattening lambs and kids

In Trial 1, there were no differences among diets for initial (P = 0.98) and final BW (P = 0.28). Conversely there was a difference (P < 0.02) in daily BW gain between the SBH and SBL diets

(Table 4). There were no (P > 0.05) differences among diets SBH and FM and/or SBL and FM. Animals in Replication 1 had greater (P < 0.001) initial and final BW, and grew faster than those in Replication 2. The effect of diet by replication was not significant (P > 0.1).

Kids on the MMH diet (Trial 2) gained more BW (P < 0.012) than those on SBH and SBL diets; there were no differences between (P > 0.1) MMH and MML diets and/or among diets MML, SBH and SBL (Table 4). Males were heavier (P < 0.001) than females at the beginning and at the end of the trial. Moreover, they also gained more (P < 0.05) BW during the course of the trial. Six female kids on the MML diet suffered of acute diarrhoea; data from three of them (suffered from diarrhoea in the early part of the trial and they removed from the trial) were excluded from the analysis of variance, whereas for the other three, initial and final BW and daily BW gain were estimated from the regression of BW on days on test. Otherwise, actual BW measurement data were used in the statistical analysis. Indeed, there were no differences between actual BW mea- surements and those estimated from the regression. Neither in this nor in Trial 3, diet by sex interaction effect was significant.

In Trial 3, there were no differences (P > 0.05) among diets for initial and final BW and for growth rate by lambs during the course of the trial (Table 5). Male lambs were heavier (P < 0.0001) than fe- males at the beginning and at the end of the trial. Moreover, males grew faster than females during the course of the trial.

4. Discussion

The CP content of the finished diet over the pre- and post-weaning period was around 15.5% and 14.4% (DM basis), respectively. In previous studies, lactating Damascus goats (Hadjipanayiotou, 1987) and Chios ewes (Hadjipanayiotou and Koumas, 1991) at approximately the same level and stage of produc- tion responded to graded dietary protein levels even greater than the ones used in the present studies, implying that dietary CP was not in excess, and any differences that might have been observed should have been associated with the source of protein

supplement. Milk production was not different between treat-

ments. Lu et al. (1990) though not found significant differences in milk yield of does on SB, meat or meat and bone meals they noted an increase of 7% (an 11% increase in 4% FCM yield) in does fed diets containing meat and bone meal; the same authors concluded that meat and bone meal might be benefi- cial for higher milk production than from SB meal, particularly during early lactation. This was not the case in the present study where goats producing > 4 kg day-‘, < 4 kg day-’ or < 3 kg day-’ re- sponded similarly on the two diets.

In line with De Gracia et al. (1989) the low degradable protein (corn gluten and blood meal mix- ture) mixture produced a similar lactation response to SB meal. No positive responses were also ob- served from increasing dietary undegradable protein with blood meal or feather meal (Tomlinson et al., 1994) and/or by replacing SB meal with animal by-product meal (mixture of meat and bone meal, feather meal, and blood meal) (Mansfield et al., 1994). Milk yields and BW changes of Holstein cows in early lactation fed isonitrogenous diets con- taining SB meal or animal by-product meals (blend of meat and bone, meat, poultry, blood, and feather meals) were similar (Mantysaari et al., 1989); the same authors, in accordance with our findings, re- ported no flavour differences between milk from SB and SB/MM diets.

In agreement with our findings, Economides (1986) and Hadjipanayiotou et al. (1988) noted that lambs required less milk than kids per unit of BW gain, mainly because of the higher solids content of

210 M. Hadjipanayiotou et ul. /Small Ruminant Reseurch 21 (I 996) 203-21 I

Chios ewe milk compared with that of Damascus ences in dietary protein concentration and/or amino goats. acid requirements of lambs vs. kids.

Kids on the high crude protein diet (SBH) grew faster than those on the SBL diet (Trial 1). Similar findings were also reported by Hadjipanayiotou (1982) where kids of about the same age, breed and feeding regimen responded to increasing dietary pro-

tein levels up to 200 g of CP per kg of feed (DM basis). The difference in growth rate between kids (Trial 1) on SBH and SBL diets was most likely a result of the levels of dietary protein and possibly caused by the fact that the low level of SB in the SBL diet could not meet requirements for ruminally undegraded protein; the latter was most likely achieved when FM was used as partial replacement of SB meal. Improved growth rate and feed effi-

ciency in cattle from substitution of some of the cottonseed meal with FM was also reported by Thonney and Hogue (1986) and was attributed to the added nutritional value of the slowly degraded high- quality protein of FM.

In line with previous results (Economides, 1986; Hadjipanayiotou, 1992) lambs grew faster than kids, and males of both species grew faster than their respective females.

Based on the findings of the present studies, we conclude that partial replacement of SB meal with MM will not increase the lactation performance of ewes and goats. Similarly, MM and FM can success-

fully replace SB in the diets of fast-growing, early weaned kids and lambs on high concentrate diets, and that the inclusion of protein sources of animal origin, may improve performance, and combination of SB with either MM or FM will result in satisfac- tory growth rates even at lower levels of dietary CP concentration. Selection among the protein sources studied should be based on cost per unit of protein.

Attempts to alter the amount of undegraded pro- tein in the diet have included the use of chemically or physically treated protein sources and the use of slowly degraded proteins, such as animal by-prod- ucts. Studies by Stock et al. (1983) with growing lambs and steers showed that blood meal has a greater value as a protein source than SB; however, when higher amounts of grain were fed to obtain greater gain, the response to any natural protein was diminished. A high-concentrate feeding system was employed in the present studies, which might have diminished possible response to protein source. The nature of the basal diet in terms of synchronised degradation rates of starch and protein, might have been a reason affecting efficiency of utilisation of protein supplements (Matras et al., 1991).

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