The Effects of Feeding Clinoptilolite on Hematology, Performance, and Health of Newborn Lambs

Author:
, , , , , ,
Year
: 2010
Abstract: The effects of feeding clinoptilolite on hematology, performance, and health of

newborn Balouchi lambs were evaluated in this experiment. In a completely randomized

design, 30 newborn lambs were allocated to three groups and fed by basal diet (C0; without

clinoptilolite) and C1 and C2 (the basal diet plus 1.5% and 3% clinoptilolite, respectively,

for 6 weeks (3 weeks before and 3 weeks after weaning)). Blood samples were taken from

all lambs, at the time when the animals were allocated to the experimental diet and at the

end of each week of experiment, and analyzed for hematology, plasma fibrinogen, and total

protein. Performance and health of all lambs were measured. Fecal consistency score and

diarrhea severity were evaluated. There was no difference between lambs in case of

hematological parameters. Lambs fecal consistency score and severity of diarrhea were

lowest (P<0.05) for lambs on C1 and C2 and highest for lambs on C0. Dry matter intake

and feed conservation ratio were similar between the groups of lambs fed by different diets,

but daily gain of lambs differed significantly (P<0.05) and was higher in C2. It was

concluded that addition of 3% clinoptilolite to starter diet of newborn lamb can reduce

incidence and severity of diarrhea, although its effect on hematology and performance was

negligible.
Keyword(s): Newborn lamb,Clinoptilolite,Diarrhea,Performance
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