Evaluation of Total Mixed Ration (TMR) based on local feed resources on milk yield of lactating dorper ewes and their lambs’ growth rates

Local feed resources such as palm kernel cake (PKC), copra meal, rice bran and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) has been used widely as alternative feedstuffs for energy and protein sources in livestock feed. The objectives of this study were i) to develop the total mixed ration (TMR) based on local feed resources that are suitable for lactating Dorper ewes, ii) to study the digestibility of the TMR on non-lactating Dorper ewes and iii) to evaluate milk yield of the ewes and growth rates of preweaning lambs from local feed resources based TMR fed ewes. Three TMR for lactating ewes were developed i) TMRA (purple guinea silage + concentrate based on local feedstuffs + 1% PFAD), ii) TMRB (purple guinea silage + concentrate based on local feedstuffs + 1.5% PFAD) and iii) TMRC (purple guinea silage + concentrate based on imported feedstuffs). Thirty (30) lactating ewes (2 – 3.5 years of age, average LW 47.53±0.64kg) with single lambs were selected for feeding trial in MARDI Cherating, Pahang. The respective groups were separately fed three formulated TMR over 60 days feeding period after lambing. Digestibility study was done on 9 nonlactating Dorper ewes in MARDI Serdang, Selangor for 17 days. All animals in this study were randomly allocated into three treatment groups based on the complete randomized design (CRD). Ewes in TMRC had significantly (P<0.05) higher milk yield (1.33±0.76kg/day) than TMRB (1.09±0.36kg/day), but comparable to TMRA (1.27±0.52kg/day). Total body weight gain (BWG) of ewes were significantly (P<0.05) higher in TMRA (1.00±0.85kg) than in TMRB (0.68±0.18kg). However, there were no significant differences in body weight at 67th days, total BWG and average daily gain (ADG) of Dorper lambs. There were no significant differences in dry matter intake (DMI) and dry matter digestibility (DMD) between treatments. Ewes fed with TMRA showed significantly (P<0.05) higher digestibility of GE, CP, EE, CF and ash than those fed TMRB whereas digestibility of EE, CF, NDF, ADF, ash and P were higher in animals fed with TMRC than those fed with TMRB. However, the digestibility of Ca was significantly (P<0.05) higher in TMRB compared to TMRA and TMRC. Total BWG and milk yield of ewes fed with TMRA showed comparable results as TMRC group. It is concluded from this study that ewes fed with TMRA (local feed resources) can have similar performance as TMRC (imported feedstuffs). Thus, local feed resources particularly PKC, copra meal, rice bran and PFAD can be used as alternative feedstuffs to replace imported feedstuffs such as soybean hulls and wheat pollard in the TMR for lactating Dorper ewes.