Pineapple by-products in the West African Dwarf lamb diet improve nutrient intake and digestibility

The current study assesses the impact of industrial pineapple by-products (IPBP) in the diet of West African Dwarf (WAD) lambs through in vitro and in vivo experiments. To achieve this aim, the IPBP was collected from the factory and included in the WAD diet (CTR: 0%, IPBP14: 14% and IPBP28: 28%). The diets were analysed and tested in vitro using the gas production technique. For the in vivo experiment, 24 WAD lambs (15.98 ± 1.5 kg; aged six to seven months) were assigned to three groups of eight animals each in a completely randomised design. Each group was assigned randomly to one diets(CTR, IPBP14 or IPBP28). The experiment lasted for 64 days, including 14 days of adaptation and data collection on intake, apparent digestibility, growth performance and feeding behaviour. As in vitro results, the inclusion of IPBP improved metabolisable energy and significantly increased gas production, and volatile fatty acid (except iso-butyrate and valerate). IPBP in the WAD lambs’ diet increased nutrient intake and apparent digestibility. The average OM intake and apparent digestibility were 548.3 g/day and 83.4%, respectively. The mean daily weight was 68.8 g/day and was slightly higher in IPBP28 group.. The feeding time and number of ruminating chews per bolus increased while chewing time per ruminated bolus decreased when IPBP was introduced into the WAD lambs’ diet. The results showed that recycling IPBP in WAD lambs’ diet up to 28% would contribute to tackling a forage shortage and improve the small ruminant nutrition in West Africa.