Hydroponic wheat and barley fodder yields and their effect on weight gain in sheep

The objectives of this work were to evaluate the effect of different seed densities on hydroponically-grown wheat and barley fodder yields, as well as the nutritional value of each hydroponic fodder obtained and its effect on weight gain in sheep. Three seed densities for two species were compared (4.7, 5.2 and 5.7 kg·m-2 for wheat, and 3.5, 3.9 and 4.3 kg·m-2 for barley). A randomized complete block design with 10 replications was used. The best density for wheat was 4.7 kg·m-2, with a yield of 30.2 kg·m-2 in fresh weight and a conversion ratio from seed weight to fresh fodder weight of 1:6.4. For barley the best density was 3.5 kg·m-2, with a yield of 32.8 kg·m-2 and a conversion ratio of 1:9.3. By increasing the density, both the dry matter content and the conversion ratio decreased. In another experiment, weight gain in Pelibuey sheep in three feeding systems was evaluated: hydroponic wheat fodder, concentrates (milled sorghum and soybean meal at a 4:1 ratio) and grazing feed supplemented with concentrate feed. A completely randomized design with four replications was used. A daily gain of 159 g in body weight was obtained with hydroponic fodder, against 136 g in the grazing system supplemented with concentrate feed, and 116 g with the concentrate diet alone. It is concluded that the use of hydroponically-grown wheat fodder is a technically and economically viable option for feeding Pelibuey sheep for fattening purposes. ADDITIONAL