Effect of Fermented Total Mixed Ration (TMR) Contained Different Levels of Cull Potato and Ensiling Period on Nutrient Composition and Performance of Fattening Moghani Lambs

The objectives of this study were to evaluate different levels of cull potatoes (15, 30, and 45 percent) and the ensiling period of the total mixed ration with TMR fermented feeds (TMRF) and total mixed ration (TMR) in a two-phase experiment on nutrient composition, ruminal fermentation characteristics, blood pa-rameters, and fattening performance of Moghani lambs. A total of 42 Moghani lambs at 150-160 d age with similar body weight (30±0.7 kg) were randomly allocated to 7 pens. The pens were randomly assigned to 7 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment in a private fattening farm in Ardabil-Iran. In this experiment, seven diets were designated as control groups, 15% cull potatoes and 30-day ensiling time (T1P1), 30% cull potatoes and 30-day ensiling time (T1P2), 45% cull potatoes and 30-day ensiling time (T1P3), 15% cull potatoes and 60-day ensiling time (T2P1), 30% cull potatoes and 60-day ensiling time (T2P2), and 45% cull potatoes and 60-day ensiling time (T2P3), which were subjected to nutrient composition, rumen fermenta-tion parameters, blood parameters, and growth performance of Moghani fattening lambs. The average daily gain (ADG), feed intake, average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were deter-mined in 60 d experimental period. The data obtained from the experiment were statistically analyzed in the form of completely random design and SAS software. Chemical composition was not different between the treatments but pH, NH3-N, lactic acid and acetic acid were affected by the ensiling period (P<0.05). Results of feeding trial showed that ruminal pH and propionic acid were similar among the treatments and the con-trol as well, but the NH3-N, lactic acid, acetic acid and butyric acid were affected by the treatments (P<0.05). Blood metabolites were similar between the treatments. The parameters of fattening performance showed that dry mater intake , daily gain and feed conversion ratio were affected by the treatments (P<0.05). The dry matter intake was lower in lambs fed P1T2 and P3T2 (1240 and 1272 g/d) P2T2 (1339 g/d) compared to the other treatments. The average daily gain ranged 194 to 212 g/d that were lower in P3T1 and P3T2 (194 and 197 g/d) but the feed conversion ratio was superior (6.39 and 6.46) in these treat-ments. In conclusion, the potato cull may be used up to 45% of the total mixed ration silage and fed to fat-tening lambs. The 30 days ensiled period may be adequate time for fermentation silage.