Growth performance of lambs fed diets containing olive pomace as a replacement for barley or corn

Abstract

Effects of olive pomace on growth performances were studied on total of 40 male lambs aged 4 months with average initial weight of 31.14 ±1 kg. After 14 days’ adaptation period, the animals were divided into five treatment groups (8 lambs per group. The lambs in the first group were fed an experimental diet (control diet without olive pomace). The lambs in the second, third, fourth and fifth group were fed the experimental diets containing 10 and 20 % olive pomace as a replacement for barley or corn. Replacing olive pomace with corn or barley in lamb diets led to clear differences in growth indexes but in different ways. A 10% replacement of corn with olive pomace enhanced body weight and in total body weight gain and feed conversion ratio. However, the performance of lambs fed 10% replacement of barley with olive pomace maintained comparable to those fed control diet. Regardless of grain replaced, 20% olive pomace impaired weight gain without altering feed conversion ratio. Overall, this work provides scientific evidence to support the valorization of local agri-food by-products as well as contributes to the development of more sustainable feeding strategies for fattening lambs.