Effects Of Alfalfa Hay On Production Erformance, Digestion And Metabolism In Gastrointestinal Tract Of DuHan Hybrid Sheep F1

Alfalfa is excellent forage of ruminant animals, because it contains rich protein. In order to study the effect of alfalfa hay on the production performance and gastrointestinal digestion and metabolism indexes of DuHan hybrid sheep F1, the experiments of substituting alfalfa hay for roughage were conducted not only to explore the effect of alfalfa hay to the sheep production and application, but also provide the scientific basis.In experiment 1, fourty-five 3 month-old, weighted 17.77±3.83kg and healthy DuHan hybrid sheep F1 were allocated to 5 treatments. DuHan hybrid sheep were fed diets with 0%,10%,20%,30% and 40% alfalfa hay instead of the same percentage roughage during the experimental period to study the effects of alfalfa hay on production performance, meat quality and rumen digestion physiological indexes. The results showed that (1) average daily body gain and dressing percentage of trialed groups are higher than control (P>0.05), Feed/body of trialed groups are lower than control, although there is marked difference with higher values in trialed groups and control (P<0.05), and there was no marked difference between trialed groups (P>0.05).(2) The protein percentage of thrax, shoulder, waist and hind leg is hagher than control, but there was no significant difference between trialed groups (P>0.05).The pH of musculus ocularis, hind leg muscle and pectoral muscle had no significant difference between trialed groups and control (P>0.05).In second experiment, five DuHan hybrid sheep Flwith permanent rumen fistula were selected, using 5×5 Latin square design. DuHan hybrid sheep were fed diets with 0%,10%,20%,30% and 40% alfalfa hay instead of the same percentage roughage during the experimental period. Pilot test of five repeat period was 7 days and the experiment contains 10 days. We collected rumen fluid to contrast the effects of alfalfa hay on rumen digestion metabolites. The results showed that (1) with the increase of alfalfa hey feed intake, rumen pH value and ammonia nitrogen show significant positive correlation.The ammonia nitrogen and energy produced by fermentation in rumen increased and that improved the rumen fermentation condition.(2)with the increment of alfalfa hay replacement, the change tendency of the experimental group and control group of urea nitrogen, the difference was not significant (P> 0.05). Urea nitrogen of group I was higher than the other groups. (3) with the increment of alfalfa hay digestion, rumen fermentation type was converted from propionic acid to acetic acid.In third experiment, five DuHan hybrid sheep F1 with permanent duodenum fistula were selected, using 5X5 Latin square design. DuHan hybrid sheep were fed diets with 0%,10%,20%,30% and 40% alfalfa hay instead of the same percentage roughage during the experimental period. Pretrial duration was 7 days and the official experiment contained 10 days. We collected duodenum chyme to contrast the effects of alfalfa hay on amino acid of chyme. Results showed that the alfalfa hay instead of roughage can increase the content of amino acids in the duodenum. With the increment of alfalfa hay ingestion, amino acid content in the duodenum chyme had downward trend, but were higher than the control group. General speaking,when alfalfa hay replacement amount was 10%, the content of amino acids in the duodenum chyme were the highest, it should be the best replacement.