The Effect of Organic Acids Addition to the Diets on Fattening Performance of the Awassi

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of formic acid and malic acid supplementation on performance of Awassi lambs fed with finishing diet. In the study, 36 heads male Awassi breed aged 3 months old. lambs were used. The animals were divided into 4 groups, one control and the other three experimental groups (each group consisted of 3 subgroups containing 3 animals and a total of 9 animals) considering their weight, so that there would be no statistically significant difference between the groups. No additives were added to the concentrate feed of the control group, and three experimental diets were prepared by adding 1.5g/kg formic acid, 4g/kg malic acid and 1.5g/kg formic acid + 4g/kg malic acid to the diets of the experimental groups, respectively. Animals were fattened for 56 days. During the trial, care was taken to ensure that the animals had constant access to clean drinking water and were fed adlibitum with concentrated feed and hay. Live weight of lambs during fattening period was determined by weighing on an empty stomach on the 0th, 14th, 28th, 42nd and 56th days of the experiment. While daily live weight gain and feed conversion was the highest in formic acid group (p<0.05), no significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of body weight and feed consumption (p> 0.05). In conclusion, the addition of formic acid to the diet of lambs had a positive effects on performance of lambs. However, malic acid supplementation did not show any effect on performance on fattening performance.