EFFECT OF FEEDING OLIVE TREE PRUNING BY-PRODUCTS IN SINAI ON SHEEP PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The field experiment was carried out at Ras Sudr research Station, Desert Research Center (DRC) in South Sinai Governerate. The experimental period lasted from August 2006 to June 2007. The objectives of this study were: 1-To investigate the ability of some chemical and biological treatments when combined with olive trees pruning by-products to improve chemical composition and cell wall constituents. 2-To study the effect of feeding these chemical and biological treated residues on animals performance, digestibility and some rumen and blood parameters. The study included four experiments: - The first experiment: laboratory experiment: - The first part was a laboratory trial which aimed to study the effect of using biological treatments (combined fungi plus yeast) and chemical treatment (urea treatment) on chemical composition and fiber constituents of olive trees pruning by-products and choosing the perfect period for fungus to be growing. Olive leaves and twigs were treated as follow:- T (1): Air-dried olive leaves and twigs treated with 4% urea on DM basis+10 % molasses solution on DM basis (the final moisture content 40%). T (2): Air-dried olive leaves and twigs inoculated with P. chrysosporium + S. cerevisiae with the ratio of 1:1 for 10 days (the final moisture content 60%). T (3): Air-dried olive leaves and twigs inoculated with P. chrysosporium + S. cerevisiae with the ratio of 1:1 for 20 days. T (4): Air-dried olive leaves and twigs inoculated with P. chrysosporium + S. cerevisiae with the ratio of 1:1 for 30 days.