ArticleAnimal bioscience2025
Impact of crumbled pelleted starter feed and alfalfa inclusion on feed intake, growth, and rumen microbiota in young lambs.
Article in Animal bioscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Screening and dynamic change study of microbial and metabolite markers for calf diarrhea based on multi-omics and machine learning.mSystems · 2026Article
- Effects of Initiation Age of Starter Feeding on Growth Performance, Immunity and Antioxidant Capacity, Gastrointestinal Development, and Microbial Communities in Suckling Lambs.Microorganisms · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePelleted feed has multiple advantages in animal production, but its hardness may limit the intake of young lambs with underdeveloped teeth and digestive systems, especially when the feed contains alfalfa and is produced with a high compression ratio in small diameters. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of removing alfalfa from starter feed or post-pelleting crumbling on lamb performance. We hypothesized that crumbling pelleted feed could reduce hardness, thereby increasing intake and enhancing performance.
methodsA total of 118 healthy, 7-day-old Hu lambs (4.02±0.94 kg) were allocated to three groups: (1) a pelleted starter with alfalfa (CON), (2) a non-alfalfa pelleted starter (NA), and (3) a crumbled starter with alfalfa (CA). Feed intake, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and rumen microbial composition were measured.
resultsThe CA group demonstrated significantly reduced pellet hardness than the CON and NA groups (p<0.05), while NA group had higher starch gelatinization (p<0.05). CA notably increased feed intake, particularly after day 21 (p<0.05), and achieved the highest overall intake, body weight and average daily gain from days 7-49. The interaction between feed type and sex had significant impacton the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF). In male lambs, both NA and CA groups demonstrated significantly higher digestibility of NDF and ADF compared to the CON group (p<0.05). Rumen microbiota diversity was influenced by feed composition more than pellet form, with alfalfa inclusion affecting a greater number of microbial genera. Crumbling increased the abundance of Methanobrevibacter (p<0.05).
conclusionThese findings suggest that post-pelleting crumbling using a roller mill enhances feed intake and growth performance in young lambs, while feed composition plays a predominant role in shaping rumen microbial diversity.
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