REGULAR ARTICLES
The effect of including argane by-products (meal and pulp) in dairy ewe diet on milk quality and production, and lamb
growth performance
Sana Moutik1,2&Nazha Lakram3&Mohammed Bendaou2&El Haj Maadoudi2&Mohammed Rachid Kabbour2&
Ahmed Douaik2&Abdelmajid Zouahri2&Abdellah El Housni2&Nour Eddine Es-Safi1
Received: 21 June 2018 / Revised: 22 May 2019 / Accepted: 24 May 2019
#Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract
The objective of this work was to study the effect of the incorporation of argane by-products (meal and pulp) in ewe’s diet on the production and quality of milk and the performance of lambs in the lactation phase. Twenty ewes were divided into two equal groups. The first one has been fed with argane by-product diet (AD), and the second with a control diet (CD). The results showed an improvement in milk production with an average of 26.3% for AD compared with the CD group. AD group lambs showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) compared with the CD group during lactation phase. The ash and protein levels were not affected by treatments; however, fat, lactose, density, and fusion point content show more fluctuations for both treatments (p < 0.05). The physicochemical parameters of sheep milk showed high (p < 0.01) to very high (p < 0.001) significant change, along the lactation weeks. Except the Zn which showed no significant difference (p > 0.05), the mineral composition of both milks (Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, and Fe) was significant (p < 0.05). It is concluded that, in terms of performances, argane by-products could replace the conventional diet for ewes without substantial detrimental effects. Therefore, argane by-product could be used as a cost- effective feed for sheep in dry areas.
Keywords
Argane by-products . Ewe . Lambs . Meal . Milk . Pulp
Introduction
Sheep farming plays a major socio-economic role in Morocco.
This livestock is considered one of the main sources of income for farmers. However, due to the succession of drought years and the rising of raw material prices in the international mar- ket, ruminants suffer from acute food problems. This situation
has led to excessive use pastoral areas possibly because of bad pasture management, and consequently, a degradation and decrease of the forage availability on the rangelands. As a result, pastoralists were confronted with a change in the tradi- tional food system based primarily on the contribution of rangelands to a system based on concentrate supplementation (Jorfi et al.
2014). However, this high dependence on concen-trated foods can affect the profitability and sustainability of the farms. Faced to this situation, optimal use of locally available food resources, particularly agro-industry by-products, can be an alternative to reduce the cost of food and increases sustain- ability as it offers the opportunity of recycling residues (Ben Salem and Smith
2008). In this sense, by-products of arganetree (pulp and meal) can have a significant forage potential.
The argane tree covers a large area in Morocco, estimated at 828000 ha (Guillaume and Charrouf
2011) generating aglobal production of about 350,000 tons per year of fruit (Charrouf and Guillaume
2009), used for production of arganeoil. This also gave a large amount of by-products about 43%
of the pulp (pericarp), 52.6% of the shells, and 2% of the meal (Zouhair et al.
2018). In addition, the availability of these by-* Sana Moutik
moutik.sanaa@gmail.com
* Nour Eddine Es-Safi nouressafi@yahoo.fr
1 Laboratory of Physico-Chemistry for Inorganic and Organic Materials. Ecole Normale Supérieure, Mohammed V University in Rabat, P.O. Box 5118, Rabat, Morocco
2 Rabat Institutes, INRA, CRRA-Rabat, P.O. Box 6570, 10101 Rabat, Morocco
3 Laboratory of Zoology and General Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Ibn Battuta 4 Avenue, P.O. Box 1014, Rabat, Morocco
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01943-w
products coincides with periods of food shortage (periods of drought) and strong pressure on sylvo-pastoral resources. The aim of this work is to study the use of argane tree by-products (pulp and meal) in the diet of small ruminants in order to relieve pressure on natural resources and reduce the cost of feeding, preserving, or/and improving the production performance.
Material and methods Experiment site
The study was conducted in the rural region called Rhamna (located at 80 km to the North of Marrakech), a dry area (latitude 34° 39
′36
″N, longitude 53° 39
′00
″W) which is an arid region with an increasing temperature of 16–18 °C and 300–400 mm for precipitation according to Emberger biocli- matic index (Mokhtari et al.
2014) from January toMarch 2016.
Animals and diets
Twenty lactating ewes breed Sardi, 42.5 ± 5 kg (mean ± SEM) initial body weight (BW), 4.5 ± 0.5 years old, and 8 ± 2 days in lactation milk at the beginning of the test, were included in the study. They have been treated be- forehand against internal and external parasitoses and vac- cinated against animal clostridioses as well as against the main diseases (enterotoxemia) of small ruminants in ac- cordance with the national immunization program. The essay lasted for 90 days including 1 week after birth as adaptation period. Animals were divided into two groups of ten ewes each, one receiving argane by-products (AD) and the other receiving a conventional feed (CD). The argane by-products diet (AD), which contained argane pulp, argane oil cake, olive cake, ground carob, wheat bran, ground straw, and minerals/vitamins complement, was offered ad libitum. The traditional diet (CD) contained barley grain, beetroot pulp, wheat bran, ground straw, trade food, and minerals/vitamins complement. The rations (1.5 kg DM ewe/day) were supplied twice daily.
All animals had free access to drinking water. The per- centage and chemical composition of each ingredient in both diets are shown in Tables
1,2, and 3.Milk production study
Milk production was estimated using the lamb weighing method before and after suckle (Ricordeau et al.
1960).Lambs were separated from their mothers during all the night and weighed with an empty stomach in the morning and after the morning suckling (they are reweighed and separated from
their mothers a second time). In the afternoon, the operation was conducted in the same way.
Total daily milk production is the sum of morning and evening production.
For this study, this methodology was repeated for 6 weeks (LW1, LW2
…LW6) to determine the weekly production of milk.
Performance and lamb growth
Growth monitoring of lambs consists of weighing the av- erage weight of lambs with a
Bbalance dynamometer100 kg
^at birth and at the age of 30, 60, and 90 days.
These weightings were made in the morning on an empty stomach, to monitor their response to diets and to calcu- late the lamb daily gain at 30, 60, and 90 days of each animal.
Chemical analyses
Samples of ingredients and feeds were chopped to pass a 1- mm sieve screen using a laboratory mill MF 10 basic IKA WERKE and stored in airtight plastic at room temperature containers pending analysis. Dry matter (DM), ash, ether ex- tract (EE), crude fiber (CF), and crude protein (CP) contents were determined according to the AOAC methods (AOAC
2000).Mineral composition with sodium (Na
+) and potassium (K
+) of milk was determined using flame photometer; phos- phorus (P) content was determined by the acidified solution reaction of ammonium molybdate containing ascorbic acid and antimony. Trace elements of milk (iron, magnesium, cal- cium, and zinc) were analyzed by atomic absorption spec- trometry (Maurice
1980) in a flame air-acetylene. The mea-sured absorption was done at the specific wavelength of 248.3 nm.
Table 1 Chemical composition of various ingredients used in fed diets
Ingredients DM (%) DM (%)
CF CP Ash EE
Argane pulp 97.9 15 7.82 7.1 6.3
Argane meal 90.4 21.3 47.1 12.3 15.5
Olive cake 91.4 30.3 6.4 8.3 8.8
Beetroot pulp 89.7 19.8 9.5 4.7 2.9
Ground straw 88.5 42.5 3.4 8.2 0.3
Wheat bran 88.2 12.3 15.4 7.1 1.7
Ground carob 91.3 7.4 6.4 4.9 2.4
Barley grain 88.5 6.7 12.1 7.2 2.2
DMdry matter,CFcrude fiber,CPcrude protein,EEether extract
Milk samples were analyzed for chemical composition and physicochemical parameters, especially fat contents, solids- non-fat (SNF), density, proteins, lactose, salts, and freezing point of samples directly after collecting and processing was determined using a Lactoscan Milk Analyzer, LACTOSCAN S_L MILK ANALYZER Wide LCD display, 4 lines × 16 characters.
Statistical analysis
The effects of the diets and the lactation weeks on ewe milk yield and composition were determined by the repeated mea- sure ANOVA using PROC MIXED of the Statistical Analysis System software (SAS
2004). Before running ANOVA, as-sumptions like normality and homoscedasticity were checked using the Shapiro-Wilk and the Bartlett test, respectively.
Once the ANOVA results are significant, differences among means were evaluated using the Duncan
’s New Multiple Range Test.
Regarding lamb growth, the effect of the two diets on the weight at the four time periods (birth, 30, 60, and 90 days after birth) as well as on the average daily live weight gain (ADG) was assessed using the Student
ttest using PROC TTEST of the same software (SAS). Again, normality and homoscedas- ticity were checked.
The level of statistical significance was set up to 0.05.
Results
Treatments and feed intake
The nutritional balance was established according to the energy and protein requirements of ewes in the lactation phase following the INRA system. Ingredients percentage, feeding value, and chemical composition of argane by- products (AD) and traditional diet (CD) are shown in
Tables
1,2, and3. The experimental diet (AD) containedargane meal (18%) as protein source, argane pulp (15%) and ground carob (27%) as carbohydrates source, wheat bran (18%) and ground straw (10%) as fiber source, olive cake (10%) as a fatty matter source, and mineral source (2%). The control feed (CD) contained barley grain (12%), trade food (43%), wheat bran (20%), sugar beet pulp (13%), ground straw (10%), and mineral and vita- mins (2%). All animals used in the study consumed argane by-products without any notable trouble.
Argane by-products (AD) contained more CF (17.64 vs.
13.23%), more EE (4.66 vs. 2.74%), and more ash (10.5 vs.
10.15%), on a DM basis (Table
3).Milk physicochemical composition
Table
4summarizes the mean compositional values (mean ± standard error) of sheep’s milk according to diet type and week of breastfeeding. The mean values for the freezing points were
−0.53 °C and
−0.52 °C for the AD and CD regimes, respectively. The milk mean density varies between 1028 and 1034 g/cm
3for AD diet and between 1024 and 1033 g/cm
3for CD regime.
For fat content, mean values vary between 3.83 and 8.05%
with an average of 5.23% for AD and 2.98 to 8.69% with an average of 4.95% for CD. The average of lactose content in the milk of the two treatments was 4.87 and 4.58% for the AD and CD diets, respectively.
The protein and ash levels in analyzed sheep milk samples retained the same value, 4.46% and 0.68%, respectively for AD and CD diets. These results showed no significance (p > 0.05) between both treatments.
In terms of solid non-fat parameter, the mean is 9.17% for the AD diet and 9.06% for the CD diet.
The physicochemical parameters of sheep milk showed a significant change very high (p < 0.001), along weeks of lactation.
Table 2 Ingredients of diets fed to ewes
Argane by-products diet (AD) Traditional diet (CD)
Ingredients (g/100 g of fresh matter) Argane meal 18 0
Argane pulp 15 0
Olive cake 10 0
Ground carob 27 0
Wheat bran 18 20
Ground straw 10 10
Minerals and vitamins 2 2
Trade food 0 43
Barley grain 0 12
Sugar beet pulp 0 13
Trade food: marketed food for livestock
Milk mineral concentrations
The mean and range of milk mineral concentrations according to diet type and lactation week are given in Table
5. Except forZn concentrations, which were similar statistically in both AD milk and CD milk, the results showed that phosphorus, sodi- um, and potassium were highly significant (p < 0.01) accord- ing to lactation weeks, whereas calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc were very highly significant (p < 0.001).
Phosphorus concentrations sheep milk fluid determined in this study were 1590.15 and 1483.56 mg/L for AD and CD groups, respectively. The Ca:P ratio of dairy sheep milk fluid in this study was 0.91 and 0.95 for AD and CD milks, respectively.
Milk production and lambs growth
The mean values of daily milk according to diet type and lactation week are represented on Table
6. The averageamount of milk produced during 6 weeks of lactation (daily milk yield for 6 weeks) was 35.78 and 28.33 kg for AD and CD diets, respectively, meaning an increase of milk production of 26.3% for AD compared with CD.
Daily milk yield of dairy sheep fed with AD was signif- icantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of CD with means of 596.5 and 475.2 g/day, respectively. The peak of lactation was observed in the 3rd week for both diets. Persistence coefficients were 0.84 and 0.88 for the AD and CD diets, respectively.
Regarding the lambs growth (Table
7), the use of arganeby-products and the decrease of cereal level tend to improve the average daily gain (ADG) from 136 g/day (CD) to 166 g/
day (AD) during the whole period of the experiment (90 days).
Moreover, statistically significant differences were spotted be- tween both groups (AD and CD) with regard to final weight.
The AD lambs group had final weights of 19 kg which is higher than that of CD group 15 kg.
Discussion
The milk composition of dairy ewes depends on genetic fac- tors, stage of lactation, milking system, and especially feeding (Atti and Rouissi
2003).The results values of milk freezing point values are lower than those reported by Gonzalo et al. (2004,
2005a,b) (−0.57 °C). For density, the contents are similar to those found by several authors in dairy sheep milk: 1037 g/cm
3(Baltadjieva et al.
1982) and 10,384 g/cm3reported by Haenlein and Wendorff (2006).
Protein and fat contents are key figures for cheese technol- ogy. The protein content of milk was statistically comparable between diets (p > 0.05) (4.46% for AD and CD). This result converges with those of Obeidat et al. (2014) (4.07%). This is attributed to the fact that the milk protein content is positively correlated with the energy balance of the diet, since energy intake stimulates the synthesis of microbial protein in the ru- men (Bocquier and Caja
2001). The two regimes used in thistest are iso-energetic. The fat content of milk was 5.28% and 4.95% for AD and CD, respectively. Statistical analysis re- vealed that there was a difference between the two groups (p < 0.001). This result is consistent with that reported by the same author Obeidat et al. (2014). The difference for fat for the two regimes AD and CD can be explained by the high fat content in argane meal and in olive cake.
With respect to solid non-fat and ash milk parameters, our values are slightly below the average values given by Ameur et al. (2014) (11.75–11.93%) for solid non-fat and Anifantakis et al. (1980) (0.9%) for ash content.
Statistical analysis showed that the lactose content is sig- nificantly different (p < 0.001) according to the dietary re- gime. However, the average content of lactose in milk of ewes of AD is slightly higher compared with that of the CD (4.87%
and 4.58%, respectively). Those results are superior to those found by Mouhaddach et al. (2016). It is about 4.48% for ewes receiving (50% cactus waste fruits, lucerne 15%, wheat bran 14%, argan meal 13%, ground carob 6%, and mineral source
Table 3 Chemical composition of diets fed to ewesArgane by-products diet (AD) Traditional diet (CD)
Composition Dry matter (%) 90.6 90.43
TotalN(DM%) 2.37 1.87
Ash (DM%) 10.5 10.15
Crude fiber (DM%) 17.64 13.23
Ether extract (DM%) 4.66 2.74
P (%) 4.4 3.5
Ca (%) 7 6.7
Feed unit/kg DM 0.81 0.8
Cost (Dh/kg DM) 1.83 2.2
DMdry matter,DhMoroccan dirham
Table4Physicochemicalcharacteristicsoftheewe’smilkinfunctionofdiettypeandlactationweek.UsingrepeatedmeasuresANOVA.Samplesizen=10 ParameterDietLactationweeks(LW)Mean±SEMStatisticalsignificance LW1LW2LW3LW4LW5LW6 D(g/cm3 )AD1028.28±0.711028.18±0.61032.7±0.581033.88±0.261034±0.271033.92±0.331031.8±2.640.02* CD1024.02±0.71030.1±0.461033.52±0.421033.83±0.331033.97±0.161033.8±0.241031.51±3.69 Mean±SEM1026.15±2.341033.11±0.641033.79±0.261033.79±0.261033.94±0.211033.81±0.261031.66±3.18 Significance0.0001*** MF(%)AD8.05±0.296.37±0.413.83±0.073.93±0.134.45±0.344.85±0.385.28±1.540.0001*** CD8.69±0.445.54±0.352.98±0.13.98±0.084.07±0.154.39±0.164.95±1.88 Mean±SEM8.37±0.495.95±0.63.4±0.453.94±0.14.29±0.344.73±0.35.11±1.71 Significance0.0001*** SNF(%)AD9.1±0.488.49±0.148.87±0.069.56±0.139.51±0.089.42±0.19.17±0.450.02* CD9.16±0.228.96±0.417.96±0.059.39±0.259.52±0.099.27±0.079.06±0.55 Mean±SEM9.13±0.358.73±0.268.42±0.489.54±0.129.55±0.059.34±0.129.12±0.5 Significance0.0001*** Pr(%)AD4.65±0.284.8±0.054.25±0.024.29±0.934.43±0.034.37±0.084.46±0.240.7(ns) CD4.89±0.264.14±0.454.23±0.024.41±0.054.52±0.044.56±0.064.46±0.26 Mean±SEM4.77±0.274.47±0.354.24±0.024.33±0.094.48±0.064.47±0.134.46±0.25 Significance0.0001*** FP(−°C)AD0.58±0.0340.51±0.0010.511±0.0070.535±0.0100.531±0.0080.523±0.0100.53±0.030.0002* CD0.485±0.0200.509±0.0120.520±0.0090.725±0.0130.529±0.0120.513±0.0150.52±0.03 Mean±SEM0.53±0.060.49±0.020.52±0.010.55±0.020.53±0.010.52±0.010.52±0.03 Significance0.0001*** Ash(%)AD0.67±0.010.65±0.010.64±0.010.71±0.010.71±0.010.7±0.010.68±0.031(ns) CD0.68±0.120.67±0.010.61±0.010.71±0.010.71±0.010.69±0.010.68±0.04 Mean±SEM0.67±0.010.66±0.010.62±0.020.71±0.010.71±0.010.69±0.010.68±0.03 Significance0.0001*** L(%)AD6.1±0.126.08±0.074.2±0.054.29±0.024.25±0.064.27±0.044.87±0.880.0001* **CD5.6±0.155.36±0.043.72±0.054.25±0.044.23±0.044.32±0.064.58±0.68 Mean±SEM5.85±0.295.72±0.383.96±0.264.27±0.044.24±0.054.3±0.054.72±0.8 Significance0.0001*** ***<0.001,**<0.01,*<0.05,nsnotsignificant(p>0.05) Ddensity,MFmilkfat,DMdrymatter,SNFsolidnon-fat,Prprotein,FPfreezingpoint,Llactose,LWlactationweek,CDcontroldiet,ADarganby-productsdiet Eachreadingismean±SEM(standarderrorofthemean)oftriplicateanalyses
Table5Milkmineralconcentrations(mg/L)ofewesasrelatedtodiettypeandlactationstage.UsingrepeatedmeasuresANOVA.Samplesizen=10 ParameterLactationweeksStatisticalsignificance DietLW1LW2LW3LW4LW5LW6Mean±SEM PAD1212.16±134.311336.14±98.11435.96±75.851634.04±26.981958.36±42.51964.24±101.041590.15±306.690.0001*** CD1062.68±87.531349.98±93.21142.84±99.021534.1±66.561876.36±76.21935.38±85.61483.56±349.15 Mean±SEM1137.42±132.771343.06±90.511289.4±175.441584.07±71.181917.36±72.471949.81±89.581536.85±330.21 Significance0.005** NaAD909.32±24.12821.06±87.92559.86±23.31557.76±20.57580.42±32.89825.54±38.04708.9±153.890.02* CD859.5±94.64809.06±126.66590.06±66.31457.1±24.23607.9±13.62707.42±58.33671.84±154.81 Mean±SEM884.41±70.2815.06±102.98574.96±49.49507.43±57.13594.16±27.8766.48±77.66690.42±154.2 Significance0.03* KAD1160±89.961270.34±125.121068.42±54.041166.76±214.261175.44±79.11261.7±95.681183.78±153.890.05 CD972.4±37.291308.24±135.291073.62±94.68939.96±66.111226.36±153.531231.74±100.51125.39±170.59 Mean±SEM1066.2±118.281289.29±124.461071.02±72.731053.36±191.41200.09±118.221246.72±93.871154.58±153.27 Significance0.02* CaAD1196.8±66.211124.18±57.661300.5±13.061381.56±19.691865.92±56.871867.44±73.681456.07±310.140.05 CD1452.92±104.61217.7±100.71286.26±19.21167.8±43.181718.52±166.941651.74±74.61415.82±231.79 Mean±SEM1324.86±158.211170.94±91.741293.38±17.221274.68±117.021792.22±140.921759.59±133.461435.95±272.21 Significance0.0001*** MgAD147.66±5.64121.3±4.21156.02±4.98159.5±6.31140.92±6.82140.4±6.16144±13.740.0003*** CD146.8±9.87129.04±6.58151.54±3.79140.16±8.38132.5±6.21125.38±8.71137.57±11.79 Mean±SEM147.23±7.59125.17±6.61153.78±4.8149.83±12.36136.71±7.58132.89±10.64140.93±13.13 Significance0.0006*** ZnAD2.38±0.182.26±0.173.64±0.414.26±0.173.28±0.183.5±0.13.22±0.740.1(ns) CD2.52±0.253.08±0.083.32±0.334.32±0.223.38±0.083.18±0.153.3±0.58 Mean±SEM2.45±0.222.67±0.453.48±0.394.29±0.183.33±0.143.34±0.23.26±0.66 Significance0.0001*** FeAD0.17±0.020.15±0.010.21±0.010.21±0.020.17±0.010.18±0.020.18±0.030.0001*** CD0.15±0.010.13±0.010.22±0.010.22±0.010.13±0.020.13±0.010.16±0.04 Mean±SEM0.16±0.020.14±0.010.21±0.010.21±0.010.15±0.020.15±0.030.17±0.04 Significance0.0001*** Ca:PAD0.98±0.090.84±0.110.91±0.060.86±0.120.95±0.030.95±0.020.92±0.020.0001*** CD1.36±0.070.9±0.021.12±0.050.76±0.160.92±0.050.85±0.070.95±0.04 Mean±SEM1.17±0.120.87±0.051.01±0.080.81±0.090.93±0.020.9±0.030.93±0.04 Significance0.0001*** ***<0.001,**<0.01,*<0.05,nsnotsignificant(p>0.05) CDcontroldiet,ADarganeby-productsdiet,LWlactationweeks,Pphosphorus,Nasodium,Kpotassium,Cacalcium,Mgmagnesium,Znzinc,Feiron
2%). The slight difference in milk lactose content between AD and CD groups could be due to the richness of argane by- products in easily degradable carbohydrate.
Underwood (1981) says that the presence of minerals in milk determines its nutritional quality to newborns de- velopment and growth. Phosphorus and calcium are the major elements of milk recognized for their involvement in bone growth and development of growing neonate. The iron content of milk is naturally low and essential in some other caseins. It is essential for transport of oxygen by hemoglobin. As for zinc, manganese, and copper, these are core constituents in many tissue enzymes needed by the body.
Regarding the results of magnesium, sodium, and potassium, Mayer and Fiechter (2012) reported values ranging between 184 and 197 mg/L; 326 and 441 mg/L; and 1208 and 1275 mg/L; respectively. In our case, lower values were found for magnesium and potassium (140.93 and 1154.58 mg/L re- spectively), while higher content for sodium was observed (690.42 mg/L).
Khan et al. (2006) reported that the zinc content was 1.29 mg/L, a lower value than our results (3.26 mg/L), while the iron concentration (0.36 mg/L) was higher than our result (0.17 mg/L).
The Ca:P ratio is of remarkable nutritional importance, since it provides information on the mineral part of bone and teeth. This ratio for sheep’s milk was evaluated at 0.93, a lower value than that found by Mayer and Fiechter (2012) (1.2–1.3).
Concentrations of calcium and phosphorus were similar to those reported by Zamberlin et al. (2012) (800
–1450 mg/kg and 1360–2000 mg/kg, respectively).
Boujenane and Chami (1996) stated that sheep milk pro- duction with the same breed (Sardi) for the first 8 weeks of lactation, receiving 1 kg alfalfa hay, 300 g barley, 250 g beet- root pulp dryer, and 10 g mineral compliment, was evaluated at 38.4 kg, a value justified by the milk production that we found for 6 weeks (35.78 kg).
As for the coefficient of persistence, the same authors re- ported that it is 0.93, lower than our results (0.94), which may be due to the effect of diet type and preparation conditions of animals (Boujenane and Chami
1996).In terms of milk production, our results were higher than those obtained by Obeidat et al. (2014) for ewes fed with corn silage (468 g/day).
Results from several studies have shown that milk compo- sition and performance of lactating ewes are strongly influ- enced by feeding composition and intake (Obeidat et al.
2014). Moreover, Shdaifat et al. demonstrated in2013
that it
is possible to substitute conventional food by agricultural by-
products provided that the ration has adequate nitrogen con-
tent, without influencing food intake, average daily gain, milk
production, and milk composition. In our study, the results
Table6Milkproduction(mean±SEM)forewesinfunctionofdiettypeandlactationweek.UsingrepeatedmeasuresANOVA.Samplesizen=10 DietLactationweek(LW)Mean±SEMStatisticalsignificance LW1LW2LW3LW4LW5LW6 Milkproduction(g/day)AD429.6±15.6544.4±19.4720.9±30.2732.6±40.1614.5±16.1536.8±7.8596.5±21.80.0001* CD295.5±27.4297.4±32.3687±14.3591.8±105.9524.3±17.6455±12.4475.2±28.9 Mean±SEM362.6±26.8411.9±47.6703.9±16.7662.2±34.2569.4±18.8495.9±15.3534.4±17.7 Significance0.0001* ***<0.001,**<0.01,*<0.05,nsnotsignificant(p>0.05) ADarganeby-productsdiet,CDcontroldiet,LWlactationweekshowed that milk quantity depends essentially on feeding in agreement with Zamberlin et al. (2012).
Concerning lambs growth, the use of argane by-products and the decrease of cereal level tend to improve the average daily gain and birth weight of lambs. The statistical analysis revealed that there were differences among daily gain (ADG) for the two regimes AD and CD (p < 0.001). Those results are superior to those get by Benbati et al. (2016) (172.7 g/day) for ewe
’s Dman receiving 20% barley, 13% corn, 26% sunflower cake, and 40% olive cake.
These results are due to the level of milk during lactation period, milk quality, and milk intake and digestion capacity of lambs. Several studies reported that there is a strong correla- tion between milk production and lambs growth, which im- plies that the availability of milk quantity and quality deter- mines their growth state (Ünal et al.
2007). The argane by-products tend to improve the ADG of lambs.
Production cost for argane by-product diet (AD) ranged between 1.8 and 2.5 Dh/kg of DM, considering only the in- gredients purchase cost. Taking into consideration other ex- penses, the overall cost varied from 2 to 2.75 Dh/kg of DM, while that of traditional diet (CD) ranged between 2.5 and 3.5 Dh/kg of DM.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our results suggest that the use of argane by- products as a substitute for cereals in sheep diets affects dairy production and lamb growth performance. Generally, the re- sults showed that ewes fed argane by-products diet AD were characterized by higher milk productivity; moreover, the same pattern was noticed for lamb daily gain regarding physico- chemical and mineral parameters of sheep milk.
Incorporation of these alternative food resources into the diet of small rumen birds would undoubtedly reduce the pres- sure on silvopastoral resources and production costs and
consequently improve the income of livestock farmers.
However, further testing is required on the characteristics and quality of the fattened lamb meat to supplement the results of this study.
Acknowledgments Appreciation is expressed to farmer Omar Dahman for the facilities provided for the experiment. Acknowledgement is also uttered to Abdenbi Saidi for assistance in conducting this study and lab- oratory analysis.
Funding information This study was financially supported by the National Institute of Agronomic Research.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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