Research Summaries: Canola and Peas in Livestock Diets

Feeding Canola Meal to Sheep

Although only a few studies have been conducted on the value of CM for sheep the results have been positive. Fifty newly weaned Romanov x Sufolk lambs (14.5 kg) were fed barley-based (75.5% as fed) diets that were isonitrogenous (15.5% CP) using three different protein supplements, lupin seed, CM and SBM. The apparent digestibility of DM, OM, energy, starch and NDF were equivalent between SBM and CM when fed to growing lambs. Apparent ADF digestibility for CM was 34.6%, lower (P < 0.05) than SBM (42.7%). The digestible energy for CM was higher (13.9 vs. 13.3 MJ kg^-1; P < 0.05) in comparison to SBM and this was attributed to the inclusion of sunflower hulls. Average daily gain was greater (P < 0.05) for lambs fed CM than for lambs fed SBM (table 8) (Stanford et al. 1996 {795}).

Table 8. Effect of SBM and CM on nutrient digestion and performance in growing lambsz.
Nutrient Digestibility Trial
	CM	SBM
DM intake (g d-1)	1056	1115
Digestibility (%)
DM	74.4	74.0
OM	79.5	79.8
Energy	75.6	74.2
Starch	97.5	97.4
NDF	37.2	40.4
ADF	34.6a	42.7b
Digestible energy (MJ kg-1)	13.9a	13.3b
Performance trial
Daily gain (g d-1)	285a	255b
DM intake (g d-1)	1217	1162
Feed conversion (feed gain-1)	4.3	4.5

^zStanford et al. 1996 {795}.

a-c Means in the same row followed by different letters differ (P < 0.05).

Hill et al. (1991 {996}) reported that sheep performance was not negatively effected by the inclusion of high GL RSM. Lambs fed a RSM (17.5 mol/g GL) concentrate had a similar FI and ADG compared to lambs fed a SBM concentrate. Thyroid glands from the RSM supplemented lambs were 79% heavier than lambs supplemented with SBM concentrates (Hill et al. 1991 {996}). Ewes fed three types (extracted, expeller and extruded) of high GL RSM (up to 20 mol/GL) and SBM had similar overall health, LWG, reproductive performance and milk yield, but milk fat and protein concentrations were lower. In RSM fed ewes milk thiocyanate concentrations were 10 times higher than ewes fed SBM (Vincent et al. 1988 {1089}). Canola meal can be used as the only protein source for growing lambs or ewes.