Defatted Moringa oleifera seed meal as a feed additive for sheep

The objective was to evaluate use of defatted Moringa oleifera seed meal (DMM) as an additive in sheep diets. Effects of DMM on feed intake, diet digestibility, microbial N supply, blood metabolites and growth of lambs fed an oat-vetch hay based diet were evaluated using 24 Barbarine lambs in four groups. All lambs were fed hay ad libitum, and 100 g of soyabean meal (SBM) mixed with 0 (Control), 2 (Low), 4 (Medium) or 6 (High)g DM of DMM per day. A 45-day feeding study followed by a 6-day digestion study was completed. The DMM was higher (P < 0.001) in crude protein (592 g/kg DM versus 471 g/kg DM) and lower (P < 0.001) in NDFom (105 g/kg DM versus 169 g/kg DM) than SBM. Feeding DMM had no effect on hay intake, diet digestibility or N balance. Lambs grew at rates of 63.8,88.5,97.0 and 76.6 g/day, respectively (Q: P=0.076), possibly due the trend to an increase in the microbial N supply (Q; P=0.109) and the trend (Q; P=0.086) to higher N retention with higher levels of DMM in the diet. The highest daily gains tended (Q: P=0.076) to be highest in the lambs fed the intermediate levels of DMM. Results suggest that DMM has the potential to improve rumen fermentation, the medium levels are recommended as an additive to improve the growth rate of lambs fed hay-SBM diets. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.