Study on Growth Potential of Thalli and Sipli Breeds of Sheep on Different Rations

A study was carried out to evaluate the comparative nutritive value of cotton seed cake and cotton seed meal in Thalli and Sipli breeds to assess their fattening potential. 60 male lambs, 30 each of Thalli (T) and Sipli (S) of almost equal weight and age were selected. Lambs of each breed were further sub-divided into two equal groups of 15 animals each TA, TB, SA and SB. Each group consisted of three replicates of 5 animals each. Two isocaloric and isonitrogenous experimental rations i.e. A and B were formulated using cottonseed cake and cotton seed meal as major vegetable protein source. Ration A was allotted to group TA and SA; and ration B was allotted to TB and SB. The effect of feeding cottonseed cake and cottonseed meal on the growth rate, feed consumption and feed utilization was recorded. There was non-significant difference in fattening potential between both breeds. However, there was an increasing tendency in fattening potential for Thalli than Sipli lambs. Nevertheless, there was significant increase in feed consumption of lambs fed on ration A containing cotton seed cake. The digestibility of ether extract was significantly higher for ration B containing cotton seed meal and there was non-significant increasing tendency for the digestibility of crude ash in experimental ration B on both breeds of sheep. It might be attributed to the poor condensed palatability of cotton seed meal as compared to cotton seed cake.