Effects of feeding carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua L.) on nursing performance of Awassi ewes and their lambs

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of feeding carob pods (CARP) on performance of nursing Awassi lambs and their lambs. Thirty ewes with their single lambs were assigned randomly into three dietary diets. Diets were 0 (CARP0), 200 (CARP200), and 400 (CARP400) g/kg of dietary dry matter (DM). The study was lasted for 8 weeks (i.e., week used as adaptation followed by 7 weeks used for data collection). Dry matter and organic matter (OM) intake was similar among all animals. However, crude protein (CP) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake was lower (P < 0.05) for ewes fed on CARP400 than ewes fed on CARP0, while CARP200 not different from the other two treatments. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake decreased (P < 0.05) in the CARP400 diet when compared to CARP0 and CARP200 diets. Condensed tannins intake was the highest (P < 0.01) for the CARP400 diet followed by the CARP200 and CARP0 diets. Digestibility of OM, CP. and ADF was the lowest (P < 0.05) for the CARP400 diet and highest (P < 0.05) for the CARP0 diet, whereas the CARP200 diet was intermediate. Ewes in both diets containing carob pods had lower (P < 0.05) DM digestibility than in ewes fed CARP0 diet. Neutral detergent fiber digestibility was lower (P < 0.05) for the CARP400 diet than the other both diets. At the end of the study, ewes fed the CARP400 diet lost (P < 0.05) more weight when compared to the CARP0 and CARP200 diets. No significant differences were observed in the performance of lambs among all treatment diets. Similarly, milk production and composition not affected by the inclusion of the carob pods. However, ewes fed on carob pods containing diets were more efficient (DM intake: milk production) when compared to the control diet (CARP0). Furthermore, cost of milk production ($/kg milk) was lower (P < 0.05) for the CARP400 and CARP200 diets than for the CARP0 diet. Results indicate that feeding carob pods at higher levels (i.e.. 400 g/kg or above) may impact the performance of nursing Awassi ewes in terms of nutrient intake and digestibility. However, it may benefit the livestock producers because it did not affect the milk production and decreased cost of milk production. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.