Effects of formaldehyde treated-soybeal meal on sheep performance

Abstract

Abstract The study aims at investigating the effects of protecting soybean meal proteinby using formaldehyde on live weight gain, dry matter consumption and feedefficiency of local rams. The research was conducted during 10 weeks period, using a completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 treatments within 4 replicates. Sixteen fat tail sheep, approximately 10 – 14 months of age with body weights ranging from 9 – 12 kg were used in this experiment. Soybean meal was treated with various concentration of formaldehyde, i.e 0 g, 5 g, 10 g and 15 g formaldehyde/ kg soybean meal. Untreated soybean meal was used as the treatment control. Maize forage (zea mays) was given ad-libitum as basal diet. Treatment with highest formaldehyde levels enhanced live weight gain (19.27 kg), dry matter consumption (412.80 g/d) and feed efficiency (35.52 %). The result indicated that, formaldehyde treatment of soybean meal protected dietary protein from rumen micro-organisms. Further investigation the optimum level of formaldehyde is warranted.