EFFET D'UNE COMPLEMENTATION DES PATURAGES STEPPIQUES PAR DES REBUTS DE DATTES SUR LES PERFORMANCES PRODUCTIVES DES BREBIS OULED DJELLAL ET LA CROISSANCE DE LEURS AGNEAUX

Abstract

It is known that feeding during the steaming period of ewes has a significant effect on the weight performance of lambs at birth. Consequently, the present study was carried out to determine the effect of supplementing with date scraps on the weight variations of Ouled Djellal sheep grazing steppes during the steaming period, and on the growth of their lambs. Thus, one hundred (100) multiparous ewes were synchronized then subjected to reproduction and randomly divided into two groups. The diet was based on forage from a meadow and barley stubble during the summer period. Two months before giving birth, the females of the experimental group were supplemented daily after return from pasture with date scraps (‘hachef ghars’) at the rate of 400 g / animal / day after an adaptation period of 15 days. The impact of this complementation was estimated by measuring the variation in the body condition of females (NEC), in addition to the weight at birth and the growth of their lambs (weight at D0, at D28, at D63 and at D90 of life). The statistical analysis using SAS (2004) revealed that the body condition of supplemented females was improved by 0.18 points, compared with a decrease of 0.20 point for the control group (P <0.05). This situation had a positive impact on the weights of the lambs since the weights from birth to D90 of lambs for supplemented females were significantly higher (P <0.05) than those of control lambs. As the diet at this stage of life is exclusively milk, date scraps help amelioration milk production for supplemented females. In conclusion, supplementation of females at the end of gestation with date scraps seems to have a positive effect both on their body conditions and on the growth of their lambs