Table 2.
Effects of probiotics and CMP on growth performance in lambs.
| Items | Control | Probiotics | CMP | Compound | SEM | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial weight (kg) | 22.59 | 21.49 | 21.12 | 21.59 | 0.46 | 0.736 |
| Final weight (kg) | 26.34 | 25.01 | 26.68 | 25.74 | 0.51 | 0.685 |
| ADFI (g/day) | 775.07 | 734.82 | 755.24 | 711.89 | 8.59 | 0.057 |
| ADG (g/day) | 62.59b | 58.59b | 92.68a | 69.17b | 4.06 | 0.011 |
| F/G | 14.13a | 11.67ab | 8.85b | 11.30ab | 0.66 | 0.044 |
a, bMeans within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (P < 0.05).
Control: the basal diet (n = 9); probiotics: supplemented with 0.1% probiotics (consists of Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, and Lactobacillus plantarum at a ratio of 1:1:0.5) in the basal diet (n = 10); CMP: supplemented with 0.1% Chinese medicine polysaccharides in the basal diet, which come from the mixture of Lycium barbarum and Astragalus membranaceus in the ratio of 2:1, and in which the content of polysaccharides was 114.7 mg/g (n = 9); compound: supplemented with 0.1% probiotics and 0.1% Chinese medicine polysaccharides in the basal diet (n = 10).
Initial weight and final weight were analyzed with lambs as the experimental unit. ADG, ADMI, and F/G were analyzed with pen as the experimental unit.
ADG, average daily gain; ADFI, average dry feed intake; F/G, feed to gain ratio.