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Simple Summary: The application of maize silage has certain limitations, and the development of new forage resources is of great significance for improving resource utilization and environmental protection. Mulberry leaves are rich in nutritional value and are widely used in animal husbandry. However, excessive antinutritional factors, such as crude fiber, tannins, and phytic acid, in mulberry leaves affect the absorption and the utilization of nutrients by animals. Microbial fermentation technology can significantly reduce the contents of crude fiber, and the antinutritional factors in mulberry leaves minimize nutrient loss and improve the palatability of mulberry leaves. Therefore, this experiment found that the replacement of maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs has the potential to enhance muscle nutritional value and to improve mutton flavor without negatively affecting growth performance, serum biochemical indices, slaughter performance, or meat quality. Maize silage has a high demand for fertilizer and water. As an unconventional feed resource, mulberry silage has the potential to replace most maize silage and to alleviate the shortage of roughage in the mutton sheep industry in China. The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of the replacement of maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs on growth performance, serum biochemical indices, slaughter performance, and meat quality. Ninety-six healthy Hu lambs were randomly divided into four groups with six replicates per group and four lambs per replicate. The amounts of 0, 20, 40, and 60% of maize silage were replaced by mulberry silage in each group (denoted as CON, L, M, and H, respectively). The results showed that replacing maize silage with mulberry silage had no significant effect on the growth performance or the slaughter performance of Hu lambs (p > 0.05). Feeding Hu lambs with mulberry silage significantly reduced serum glucose (GLU) and the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) content (p < 0.05), and it increased the content of ether extract (EE) in the longissimus dorsi muscle (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the percentage of EAA in the M and H groups was significantly lower than that in the CON and L groups (p < 0.05). In addition, in the fatty acid profile, the percentage of C16:1 in the M group was significantly increased, while the percentage of C18:0 and C20:0 were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that 20–40% of maize silage be replaced by mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: A shortage of high-quality roughage jeopardises the Chinese mutton sheep industry. The development of new roughage resources is important to safeguard the health and welfare of the sheep, to save costs, increase efficiency and improve resource utilization. Mulberry leaves have high nutritional value and have been used in herbivore production for a long time in China. However, fresh mulberry leaves are not easy to preserve, and dried mulberry leaves readily lose nutrients in the conservation process. Ensiling mulberry leaves can reduce the anti-nutritional constituents, mainly phytic acid and tannin, while reducing any nutrient loss. In this study, mulberry silage replaced part of a maize silage-based diet for fattening Hu lambs. The effects of mulberry silage on the growth of the lambs, their gastrointestinal tissue morphology, rumen fermentation parameters and bacterial diversity were investigated. The results showed that using mulberry silage in place of 20–40% of the maize silage in the diet of Hu lambs promoted their growth, while maintaining satisfactory digestion. Maize silage has a significant environmental impact on livestock due to its high requirement for fertilizer and water. Mulberry has the potential to replace much of the large amount of maize silage grown in China, but its feeding value in the conserved form needs to be evaluated. We fed Hu lambs diets with 20–60% of the maize silage replaced by mulberry silage, adjusting the soybean meal content when increasing the mulberry silage inclusion rate in an attempt to balance the crude protein content of the diets. Mulberry silage had higher crude protein and lower acidic and neutral detergent fiber contents compared to maize silage. Replacing maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage had no effect on the feed intake and growth rate of Hu lambs. However, the rumen pH increased, the acetate to propionate in rumen fluid increased, and the rumen ammonia concentration decreased as mulberry replaced maize silage and soyabean meal. This was associated with an increase in norank_f__F082 bacteria in the rumen. Rumen papillae were shorter when mulberry silage replaced maize silage, which may reflect the reduced neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content of the original silage. In conclusion, mulberry silage can successfully replace maize silage and soyabeans in the diet of Hu lambs without loss of production potential, which could have significant environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]