Table 2.
Feed intake, growth performance, and feed efficiency of growing Farafra lambs fed diets containing date palm leaves treated with different probiotics.
| Diet1 | SEM | P value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | BAC | LAC | ZAD | |||
| Intake (g/d) | 1,577 | 1,623 | 1,614 | 1,617 | 12.5 | 0.120 |
| Initial weight (kg) | 26.0 | 26.0 | 26.0 | 26.3 | 2.42 | 0.991 |
| Final weight (kg) | 53.2b | 51.5b | 57.5a | 49.3c | 2.06 | 0.011 |
| Total weight gain (kg) | 27.2b | 25.5c | 31.5a | 23.0c | 1.92 | 0.042 |
| Daily gain (g/d) | 181.1b | 170.3c | 2109.8a | 1543.7c | 4.01 | 0.033 |
| Feed efficiency (g feed/g gain) | 8.71c | 9.53b | 7.69d | 10.52a | 0.613 | 0.011 |
Means in the same row with different superscripts differ at P < 0.05. P-value is the observed significance level of the F-test for diet; SEM, standard error of the mean.
1Diet: Control diet contained 700 g of concentrate feed mixture and 300 g of date palm leaves without additives or supplemented with Bacillofort probiotic (BAC treatment), Lacotpro probiotic (LAC treatment) or ZAD probiotic (ZAD treatment).