EFFECT OF GARLIC POWDER ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND BLOOD METABOLITES IN MALE LAMBS

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of garlic powder (GP) on growth performance and blood metabolites of male lambs. Twenty male lambs of Dalagh breed with 6 months of age and mean initial body weight of 31.5 ± 2.5 kg in a 91-days (7 days for adaptation and 84 days trial) were assigned randomly to four dietary treatments with five replicates per treatment in a completely randomized design. Treatment were include: control (without GP), 5, 10 and 15 gr GP/lamb/day. The lambs were fed individually ad libitum. The blood samples were collected in weeks 0, 4, 8, 12 and lambs were weighed every two weeks. Dry matter intake (DMI) was determined every two weeks. The results of these experiments showed that dry matter intake of lambs fed with 15 grams GP per day increased compared with control. Adding GP had no significant effect on the average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). The GP had no effect on serum blood glucose, urea and triglyceride concentration, but treatment with high garlic powder decreased blood urea and triglyceride numerically. In conclusion, the results of these experiments showed that dry matter intake of lambs fed with 15 grams GP per day increased compared with control, but they had no change in fattening performance and blood metabolites of male Dalagh lambs.