ISPAMed 2024

Feeding responses and dairy production of ewes fed dehydrated sulla forage (Sulla coronaria (L.) Medik) as alternative to hay

Not scheduled

20m

Aula Magna "G.P. Ballatore" (UniPA SAAF)

Oral Presentation Topic 1. Mediterranean Ecosystem: Biodiversity, Primary Productions, Livestock Systems, and Environmental Sustainability Sessione 1

Speaker

Marialetizia Ponte (Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali (SAAF), Università di Palermo, Italy)

Description

Keywords: condensed tannins, feed intake, digestibility, milk yield, cheese, fatty acids profile, antioxidant capacity

Fresh sulla forage, due to its contents in protein and condensed tannins, is known to enhance the productive responses of dairy ewes, but the same effects do not emerge when it is provided as hay [1, 2]. With the aim to improve the quality traits of sulla forage stocks, in this research dehydration is proposed as alternative to haymaking. Thus, dehydrated and pelleted sulla forage (DSF) was compared with sulla hay (SH) evaluating their effects on efficiency of feed utilization and dairy production of ewes of Valle del Belìce breed. According to a 3x3 Latin square design, 9 ewes at 60 days in milk were successively fed with 3 diets in which the forage component was constituted by SH ad libitum supplied alone (SHL) or integrated with 2 kg/day DSF derived from an early (EDSF) or a late cut (LDSF). All the ewes received also concentrate feed at level of 800 g/day. The crude protein was 8.8, 15.1 and 11.3 % dry matter (DM) for SH, EDSF and LDSF, respectively. Compared to SH, both DSF based diets significantly increased ewes feed intake (+0.6 kg DM/day), milk yield (+0.4-0.3 kg/day), and the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in cheese, mainly due to linoleic, α-linolenic and rumenic acids. The EDSF also improved DM digestibility, ewes’ milk conversion ratio and the cheese antioxidant capacity; moreover, it reduced the estimated daily methane emissions (-3 g CH4/kg milk). These results evidence as dehydration of sulla forage can represent a suitable alternative to haymaking, especially when applied to an early-cut forage.

References
[1] Gannuscio R., Ponte M., Di Grigoli A., Maniaci G., Di Trana A., Bacchi M., Alabiso M., Bonanno A., Todaro M., “Feeding dairy ewes with fresh or dehydrated sulla (Sulla coronarium L.) Forage. 1. Effects on feed utilization, milk production, and oxidative status”, Animals, 12(18), 2317, (2022).
[2] Ponte M., Maniaci G., Di Grigoli A., Gannuscio R., Ashkezary M. R., Addis M., Pipi M., Alabiso M., Todaro M., Bonanno, A., “Feeding dairy ewes with fresh or dehydrated Sulla (Sulla coronarium L.) forage. 2. Effects on cheese enrichment in bioactive molecules”, Animals, 12(18), 2462, (2022).

Acknowledgements
This research was developed within the project DISOLASULLA, Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF), 2020-1533.