Adding Trona Salt to Growing Lamb Diets and Its Effect on Their Growth and Performance

Dr. Mhamed Masoud Al-Jdeir / Dr. Mohamed Ali Al-Amin / Dr. Abeer Mohamed Al-Maghrabi

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of adding trona salts (sodium sesquicarbonate) at different levels (0%, 5%, 7%, and 10%) to the diets of growing Barbary rams on digestibility, growth performance, rumen pH, blood mineral levels, and wool staple length. The results indicated that supplementing diets with 5% and 7% trona significantly improved the digestibility coefficients of crude protein, ether extract, soluble carbohydrates, and crude fiber, as well as significantly increasing daily body weight gain compared to the control group. Furthermore, increasing trona inclusion shifted rumen fluid pH toward alkalinity and significantly enhanced wool staple length at the 10% level, without causing adverse significant changes in most blood mineral concentrations.

Trona Salts, Barbary Lambs, Digestibility Coefficient, Rumen pH, Growth Performance, Wool Staple