Effect of yeast culture on growth and nutrient utilization in Nellore lambs

Complete diets with or without yeast culture @ 0.1 per cent were compared with a conventional ration containing chopped sorghum straw and concentrate mixture fed separately to study the effect on nutrient utilization, growth rate and carcass characteristics in Nellore lambs in a completely randomized design. Dry matter intake was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sheep fed conventional ration than those offered complete diets. The digestibility of nutrients, except EE; DCP and TDN content; N, Ca and P retention were significantly (P<0.05) higher in lambs fed complete diets. The growing male lambs showed significantly (P<0.05) higher average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency and nutrient utilization on ration containing yeast culture. The carcass characterstics were comparable on all the rations and were with in the normal range. It was concluded that supplementation of yeast culture showed marked improvement in the growth of Nellore lambs without affecting the carcass characters and reduced the cost of meat production.