China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2023, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (9): 3622-3629.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2023.09.018

• Nutrition and Feed • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Caragana Diet with Different Concentrate to Forage Ratio on Growth Performance,Meat Quality and Intestinal Microflora of Hu Sheep

ZHANG Rui1, WANG Qiang2, ZHANG Lei1, XIAO Yuhang1, XUE Yun1, SUN Yaojun3, CUI Jiuzeng1, SONG Yuxuan1   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;
    2. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Service Center of Ansai District, Ansai 717400, China;
    3. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Service Center of Yanan City, Yanan 716000, China
  • Received:2023-03-22 Online:2023-09-05 Published:2023-08-24

Abstract: 【Objective】 This experiment was conducted to study the effects of different concentrate to forage ratio of Caragana diet on growth performance,meat quality and intestinal microflora of Hu sheep.【Method】 60 Hu sheep about 2 months of age with uniform weight (15.36 kg±3.36 kg) were divided equally into three groups,there were 5 replicates per group,4 sheep per replicate,with 60% caragana hay,20% peanut hay and 20% alfalfa hay as the roughage diets,and the ratios of roughage to concentrate in the three groups were 60∶40,50∶50 and 40∶60,respectively.The adaption period was 10 days,and the experiment period was 60 days. The body weight of each group was recorded every 15 days during the test period,and the slaughter test was conducted on the second day after the end of the test period.Longissimus dorsal muscle and triceps femoris samples, and jejunum contents of Hu sheep were collected for meat quality analysis and intestinal flora testing.【Result】 The results showed that there was no significant difference in body weight among the three groups at 15,30 and 45 days (P>0.05).On the 60th day of the experiment,the average body weight and average daily gain of the 60∶40 group were significantly higher than those of the 40∶60 group (P<0.05).The total amino acid content of triceps femoris in the 50∶50 group was the highest (P<0.05), and flavor amino acids contents in which were higher too. There was no significant change in the content and proportion of fatty acids in the muscle of Hu sheep among the three groups (P>0.05).The main bacterial composition of the gut microbiota phylum level in three group of Hu sheep was Firmicutes,Actinobacteria and Patescibacteria.The abundance of Firmicutes,Proteobacteia and Tenericutes decreased with the decrease of roughage (P<0.05).At the genus level,Aeriscardovia abundance tended to increase with roughage reduction (0.05<P<0.1).【Conclusion】 When the ratio of roughage to concentrate was 60∶40,the growth performance of Hu sheep was the highest,and the mutton quality was better at 50∶50.Feeding different ratio of roughage to concentrate affected the intestinal microbial structure to some extent.

Key words: Caragana; Hu sheep; intestinal microbiota

CLC Number: