Effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Supplementation on Reproductive Performance and Ruminal Digestibility of Queue Fine de l’Ouest Adult Rams Fed a Wheat Straw-Based Diet

Samia Ben Saïd (), Jihene Jabri, Sihem Amiri, Mohamed Aroua, Amel Najjar, Sana Khaldi, Zied Maalaoui, Mohamed Kammoun and Mokhtar Mahouachi
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Samia Ben Saïd: Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture du Kef, Université de Jendouba, Jendouba 8189, Tunisia
Jihene Jabri: Ecole Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Mannouba, Mannouba 2010, Tunisia
Sihem Amiri: Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture du Kef, Université de Jendouba, Jendouba 8189, Tunisia
Mohamed Aroua: Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture du Kef, Université de Jendouba, Jendouba 8189, Tunisia
Amel Najjar: Institut Nationale Agronomique de Tunisie, Université de Carthage, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
Sana Khaldi: Ecole Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Mannouba, Mannouba 2010, Tunisia
Zied Maalaoui: Arm and Hammer Animal and Food Production, Ewing, NJ 08628, USA
Mohamed Kammoun: Ecole Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Mannouba, Mannouba 2010, Tunisia
Mokhtar Mahouachi: Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture du Kef, Université de Jendouba, Jendouba 8189, Tunisia

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effect of supplementing a wheat straw-based diet with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.C.) on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance, body weight and reproduction performance. The experiment was conducted on 14 Queue Fine de l’Ouest rams between 3 and 4 years of age (body weight (B.W.): 54.7 ± 2.03 kg; body condition score (B.C.S.): 3.5 ± 0.5), for 80 days during the breeding season. The rams were divided into two homogenous groups (n = 7), housed individually in floor pens, and allocated to two dietary treatments. The control group was offered a basal diet of 1 kg/d of wheat straw and 700 g of concentrate. The experimental group (yeast) received the same basal diet supplemented with 10 g of S.C./head/day. The results indicated that the S.C. supplementation had no significant effect on the animal’s body weight, volume and concentration of semen, dry matter intake, crude protein digestibility and nitrogen balance. Compared to the control group, the S.C. addition improved ( p < 0.05) the digestibility of dry matter by 7.3%, organic matter by 11.9% and crude fiber by 24%. In addition, the mass motility score increased for the yeast group compared to the control (3.7 ± 0.24 vs. 1.9 ± 0.27, p < 0.05). The total number of dead and abnormal spermatozoa decreased for the yeast group in contrast to the control group (9.28 ± 0.95 vs. 26.8 ± 3.85% and 25.5 ± 3.33 vs. 59.2 ± 2.78%, respectively; p < 0.05). These results showed that adding S.C. to Queue Fine de l’Ouest ram’s diet during breeding season could improve nutrient digestibility and reproductive performance.

Keywords: ram; sperm quality; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; apparent digestibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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