Replacement of Dietary Barley Grain by Different Levels of Restaurant Waste and Its Effect on Hybrid Lambs Performance

This study was conducted to determine the nutritive value of restaurant waste (RW), substituted with dietary barley grain and its effects on the performance of finishing lambs. Dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether extract and ash content of RW were 33.4, 95.9, 15.1, 14.1 and 4 percent respectively. 36 male and female lambs, (initial weight of 33.4± 0.5 and 29.7± 0.5 kg respectively) were used in the experiment. The experimental lambs were from three hybrid groups: Ghezel*Merino (n=12), Merino*Moghani (n=18) and Ghezel*Baluchi (n=6). Dietary barley grains at the levels of 50 and 100 percent were replaced with RW and along with control group (no RW) compromised experimental treatments.. Experimental diets were offered three times daily at 6.00, 14.00 and 20.00 hours. Dry matter intake was not significantly different between the treatments. The average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were differ between sexes. Weight gain of male and female lambs during the fattening period was 250.3 and 171.6 g/day respectively. Replacement of barley grain with RW in the 3rd treatment significantly affected ruminal pH, N-NH3 and total volatile fatty acids content and fecal pH, as well as blood glucose and BUN comparing the control group. Replacement of RW with barley grain at levels of 50 and 100 percent reduced cost of the live weight gain up to 24 and 37.7 percent respectively versus control diet