Effect of yeast culture supplementation on nutrient intake, digestibility and growth performance of Awassi lambs

A growth study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplying a yeast culture (YC; Diamond V® YC) containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae on nutrient intake, digestibility and growth performance of fattening Awassi lambs. Twenty-four Awassi lambs (20.6 ± 0.2 kg BW), housed in individual pens, were divided into three groups and fed a basal diet, where treatments were 0, 3 and 6 g/d of YC supplementation. The metabolizable energy content of the basal diet was 11.8 MJ/kg and the experiment lasted for 74 d. Intake was similar in all groups and metabolizable energy intake was also not affected by YC supplementation. Dry matter, organic matter and apparent crude protein digestibilities were higher (P < 0.05) for lambs in the 3 g/d group (676, 683 and 653 g/kg, respectively) as compared with the 0 g/d group (632, 645 and 589 g/kg, respectively). Moreover, the neutral detergent fiber digestibility for lambs in the 3 g/d group was higher (P < 0.05) than lambs in the 0 g/d group. Lambs in the 3 g/d group had a higher (P < 0.05) weight gain (15.9 kg) compared to lambs in the 0 g/d group (12.8 kg). Average daily gain (ADG) for lambs in the 3 g/d group (266 g/d) was higher (P < 0.05) than for lambs in the 0 g/d group (212 g/d). Feed-to-gain ratio was highest (P < 0.05) for lambs in the 3 g/d group and averaged 5.0, 4.2 and 4.7 for the 0, 3 and 6 g/d groups, respectively. Results demonstrate that 3 g/d of YC supplementation to finishing Awassi lambs fed high energy diets improves weight gain, ADG and feed-to-gain ratio.