The use of unmarketable cracked eggs and whey to increase the nutritive value of barley straw

In this study, unmarketable cracked egg (UCE)+Whey mix (60 % egg+ 40 % whey) were added to barley straw to increase its nutritive value. This straw was compared to alfalfa hay. Twenty lambs approximately 7 mo of age (each group included 10 lambs) were used in a randomized design. Experimental groups were Alfalfa group with alfalfa hay and Straw+E+W group with added UCE+Whey mix barley straw. Prepared rations were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. We investigated the effect of both rations on feed intake, BW gain, feed conversion ratio and digestibility of nutrients. Daily feed intake, daily BW gain and feed efficiency in alfalfa and Straw+E+W group were: for feed intake 1361.06 g and 1209.91 g (p<0.05); for daily BW gain 250.00 g and 246.43 g (p>0.05) and for feed conversion ratio 5.44 and 4.91 (p<0.05) respectively. Digestibility of nutrients was not significantly different between groups p>0.05). As shown, the feed intake was lower in Straw+E+W group, the lambs in Straw+E+W group had better performance. The cause of this maybe the use of higher quality protein sources. While soybean meal, sunflower seed meal and alfalfa hay were used as protein sources in the Alfalfa group. A higher quality protein source, like UCE was used in the Straw+E+W group. It can be concluded that the addition of quality protein sources, like egg and whey increased the nutritive value of barley straw