Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate
Abstract Background The use of a high-concentrate diet in fattening camels may have significant effects on growth performance and digestion as well as economic returns. This experiment was designed to study the effects of feeding different levels of concentrate in their diet on growth performance an...
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Veterinary Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04485-6 |
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| author | Ahmed R. Askar Rawia Darwesh Sabbah Allam Galal M. Abdul Aziz Afaf A. El Shereef Ehab Y. Eid Hamedi M. Kandil Samir S. Abou El Ezz Mohsen M. Shoukry |
| author_facet | Ahmed R. Askar Rawia Darwesh Sabbah Allam Galal M. Abdul Aziz Afaf A. El Shereef Ehab Y. Eid Hamedi M. Kandil Samir S. Abou El Ezz Mohsen M. Shoukry |
| author_sort | Ahmed R. Askar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The use of a high-concentrate diet in fattening camels may have significant effects on growth performance and digestion as well as economic returns. This experiment was designed to study the effects of feeding different levels of concentrate in their diet on growth performance and digestion in a desert climate. Methods Eighteen 12-month-old male camel calves were used, and divided into three treatments of six each. The concentrate was administered based on their body weight (BW) at 0.7 (low), 1.0 (medium), and 1.3% (high), with free access to alfalfa and water. The experiment lasted for 6 months, in which digestibility trials took place at 14, 16, and 18 months of age, which corresponded to 2, 4, and 6 months of the experimental period. Results No significant variations were observed in final BW, BW changes, or average daily gain among feeding treatments. Increasing the concentrate level had a negative effect on roughage intake, impacting the roughage-to-concentrate ratio (P < 0.05) and neutral detergent fiber digestibility (P < 0.05). Increasing concentrate levels significantly increased total intake (P < 0.05), leading to a worse feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05). However, animal age had no negative effect on nutrient digestibility, and there were no interactions between concentrate supplement level and animal age. Significant increases in plasma total protein (P < 0.05) and urea (P < 0.05) were observed when the leve lof concentrate was increased. A similar trend was observed in rumen ammonia concentration. Camel calves fed low vs. medium or high levels of concentrate showed a greater rumen pH (P < 0.05), which was linked to a lower concentration of volatile fatty acids (P < 0.010). Conclusions The present study concluded that yearling camel calves receiving different levels of concentrate with ad lib alfalfa hay could cover their nutrient requirements for maintenance and growth with a daily gain of 630 g/day when the level of concentrate was limited to 0.7% of BW and the total intake was only around 1.65% of BW, or 70.6 g/kg metabolic BW. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eb0ad63b88d14f0592b5877fa3c70091 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1746-6148 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | BMC Veterinary Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-eb0ad63b88d14f0592b5877fa3c700912025-02-02T12:29:14ZengBMCBMC Veterinary Research1746-61482025-01-0121111210.1186/s12917-025-04485-6Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrateAhmed R. Askar0Rawia Darwesh1Sabbah Allam2Galal M. Abdul Aziz3Afaf A. El Shereef4Ehab Y. Eid5Hamedi M. Kandil6Samir S. Abou El Ezz7Mohsen M. Shoukry8Animal and Poultry Nutrition Department, Desert Research CenterAnimal and Poultry Nutrition Department, Desert Research CenterAnimal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo UniversityAnimal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo UniversityAnimal and Poultry Nutrition Department, Desert Research CenterAnimal and Poultry Nutrition Department, Desert Research CenterAnimal and Poultry Nutrition Department, Desert Research CenterAnimal and Poultry Physiology Department, Desert Research CenterAnimal Production Department, National Research CentreAbstract Background The use of a high-concentrate diet in fattening camels may have significant effects on growth performance and digestion as well as economic returns. This experiment was designed to study the effects of feeding different levels of concentrate in their diet on growth performance and digestion in a desert climate. Methods Eighteen 12-month-old male camel calves were used, and divided into three treatments of six each. The concentrate was administered based on their body weight (BW) at 0.7 (low), 1.0 (medium), and 1.3% (high), with free access to alfalfa and water. The experiment lasted for 6 months, in which digestibility trials took place at 14, 16, and 18 months of age, which corresponded to 2, 4, and 6 months of the experimental period. Results No significant variations were observed in final BW, BW changes, or average daily gain among feeding treatments. Increasing the concentrate level had a negative effect on roughage intake, impacting the roughage-to-concentrate ratio (P < 0.05) and neutral detergent fiber digestibility (P < 0.05). Increasing concentrate levels significantly increased total intake (P < 0.05), leading to a worse feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05). However, animal age had no negative effect on nutrient digestibility, and there were no interactions between concentrate supplement level and animal age. Significant increases in plasma total protein (P < 0.05) and urea (P < 0.05) were observed when the leve lof concentrate was increased. A similar trend was observed in rumen ammonia concentration. Camel calves fed low vs. medium or high levels of concentrate showed a greater rumen pH (P < 0.05), which was linked to a lower concentration of volatile fatty acids (P < 0.010). Conclusions The present study concluded that yearling camel calves receiving different levels of concentrate with ad lib alfalfa hay could cover their nutrient requirements for maintenance and growth with a daily gain of 630 g/day when the level of concentrate was limited to 0.7% of BW and the total intake was only around 1.65% of BW, or 70.6 g/kg metabolic BW.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04485-6CamelsConcentrateGrowth performanceDigestibilityRumenAnd blood metabolites |
| spellingShingle | Ahmed R. Askar Rawia Darwesh Sabbah Allam Galal M. Abdul Aziz Afaf A. El Shereef Ehab Y. Eid Hamedi M. Kandil Samir S. Abou El Ezz Mohsen M. Shoukry Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate BMC Veterinary Research Camels Concentrate Growth performance Digestibility Rumen And blood metabolites |
| title | Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate |
| title_full | Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate |
| title_fullStr | Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate |
| title_short | Performance of 1-year-old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate |
| title_sort | performance of 1 year old camel calves fed a basal ration of alfalfa hay supplemented with different levels of concentrate |
| topic | Camels Concentrate Growth performance Digestibility Rumen And blood metabolites |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04485-6 |
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