1781
Effect of polyherbal supplementation as feed additive on milk production and composition in lactating goats
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding a dried mixture of 7 herbal plants including thyme, mint, oregano, cumin, camel thorn, garlic and eucalyptus as a natural additive to the ration on milk production and composition in lactating goats. Because previously other researchers had studied about effects of these herbal plants on animals indivisually.Twenty goats (21 DIM, 2–3 years old, average BW 34.45 kg) were used in a completely randomized design with 2 treatments for a 40 day trial. Treatments were (1) control ration (basal diet), (2) control ration + 250 mg kg−1 BW per d of a mixture of herbal plants. Animals were pen fed and all of data were analyzed with PROC MIXED procedure of SAS .Average milk production at the start of the experiment was similar in both groups (900 g/d). Milk production data and milk samples were collected every 10 day and milk composition was determined. The results showed that milk production (1073 and 1031 g/day for treatment 1 and 2, respectively) was not affected by addition of herbal plant mixture . Milk fat (2.76 and 2.79% for treatments 1 and 2, respectively), milk protein (2.76 and 2.79%) and milk lactose (5.44 and 5.40%) were not significantly different . It is concluded that herbal plant mixture were used in this study had no significant effect on milk production and composition in dairy goats.
Keywords:
herbal plants
milk production and composition
dairy goats