The Effects of Replacing Soybean Meal with Rapeseed Meal, Cottonseed Cake, and Fava Beans on the Milk Yield and Quality Traits in Milking Ewes
Aphrodite I. Kalogianni,
Marios Moschovas,
Foteini Chrysanthakopoulou,
Thomai Lazou,
Georgios Theodorou,
Ioannis Politis,
Ioannis Bossis,
Athanasios I. Gelasakis
Affiliations
Aphrodite I. Kalogianni
Laboratory of Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals, Department of Animal Science, School of Animal Biosciences, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Iera Odos 75 Str., 11855 Athens, Greece
Marios Moschovas
Laboratory of Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals, Department of Animal Science, School of Animal Biosciences, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Iera Odos 75 Str., 11855 Athens, Greece
Laboratory of Hygiene of Foods of Animal Origin—Veterinary Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Georgios Theodorou
Laboratory of Animal Husbandry, Department of Animal Science, School of Animal Biosciences, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Iera Odos 75 Str., 11855 Athens, Greece
Ioannis Politis
Laboratory of Animal Husbandry, Department of Animal Science, School of Animal Biosciences, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Iera Odos 75 Str., 11855 Athens, Greece
Ioannis Bossis
Laboratory of Animal Husbandry, Department of Agricultural Sciences, School of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Athanasios I. Gelasakis
Laboratory of Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals, Department of Animal Science, School of Animal Biosciences, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Iera Odos 75 Str., 11855 Athens, Greece
The replacement of soybean meal (SBM) from intensively reared dairy sheep diets has emerged as a significant challenge for sustainable production. However, the effects of this replacement on milk production have not been sufficiently elucidated. The objective of this study was to prospectively assess the effects of replacing SBM with a mixture of alternative protein sources on the milk yield (MY) and the milk quality traits (MQT) in intensively reared dairy sheep. A total of 112 multiparous, purebred milking ewes of the Chios and Frizarta breeds, from two intensive dairy sheep farms, were involved in the study, postweaning, and were assigned to either the control (CR) or the experimental ration (ER) group. In the ER, 3/4 of the SBM was replaced by a mixture of rapeseed meal, cottonseed cake, and fava beans, producing a ration of a similar nutritional value. MY, MQT, and body condition scores were recorded for each individual ewe monthly for a period of 4 months during lactation. The experimental ration was associated with beneficial effects on daily and 100-day fat yields and on the electrical conductivity of milk as an improved udder health status indicator, with no adverse effects on any of the rest of the studied milk production traits.
