Replacing Soybean Meal with Sesame Meal in the Diets of Lactating Awassi Ewes Suckling Single Lambs: Nutrient Digestibility, Milk Production, and Lamb Growth

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Alternative feeds are agricultural or industrial by-products (rich in nutrient content) that can be used to replace part of the conventional ingredients in animal rations. These by-products are typically much lower in cost than conventional feeds and reduce the dependence on conventional feeds, which would increase the benefits and profitability of raising livestock. Another objective of this kind of experiments is to utilize agro-industrial by-products, such as sesame meal, which, in turn, would reduce their waste disposal and the associated pollution issues. Sesame meal can replace soybean meal at levels of 0%, 7.5%, and 15%. Milk production increased in SM-containing diets more than the control. Lamb growth improved in sesame meal-containing diets. ABSTRACT: Two experiments were conducted to assess the influence of sesame meal (SM) feeding on nutrient digestibility, N balance, milk production and composition, ewes’ body weight change, and growth performance of lambs. In experiment 1, 18 ewe lambs were randomly distributed into three diets to evaluate the effects of soybean meal replacement with SM on nutrient intake, digestibility, and N balance. Treatments were no SM (SM0), 7.5% SM (SM7.5), or 15% SM (SM15) of the dietary dry matter (DM). Aside from intake and digestibility of ether extract (EE), which was greater in the SM-containing diets compared with SM0, intake and digestibility of the remaining nutrients was similar among dietary treatments. In experiment 2, 30 ewes suckling single lambs were randomly assigned to the same diets used in experiment 1. Intakes of DM, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were unaffected by treatment. Milk yield was greater in SM diets than in the SM0 diet. Cost/kg of milk production decreased while feed efficiency improved in the SM-diets compared to the SM0 diet. In conclusion, results of the current studies demonstrate the possibility of replacing soybean meal with sesame meal in diets of lactating Awassi ewes.