Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of replacing concentrate feed (CFM) mixture with different levels of treated lemon pulp (TLP) on milk production and composition, nutrients digestibility, and blood parameters of Zaribi goats. A total of 24 Zaribi female goats at the end of the pregnant period were divided into three groups of eight according to live weight. Concentrate feed mixture and clover hay at a rate of 50:50 were offered twice a day. Treatedlemon pulp replaced CFM at rates 0%, 25%, and 50 % in diets of R1, R2, and R3 treatment groups, respectively. The feeding trial lasted 90 days. Dry matter digestibility and Nitrogen free extract digestibility were significantly raised by the increased level of TLP in groups R2 (72.37% and 70.36%) and R3 (72.28% and 70.30%), compared to (70.99% and 68.51%) in R1, respectively. The same trend was observed for organic matter digestibility (OMD), crude protein digestibility (CPD), crude fiber digestibility (CFD), and ether extract digestibility (EED) with R3, compared with either R1 or R2. However, there were insignificant differences between R1 and R2 in terms of OMD, CPD, and EED but CFD was significantly higher in R2, compared to R1. There was a significant increase in the milk yield by the increased level of TLP in the diet and for R2 (1448.4g/h/d) and R3(1558.7g/h/d), while it was reported as 1377.6 g/h/d in the control group. Feeding dams on the R3 diet had a significant effect on improving total antioxidant capacity by 63.5%, compared with control. The results of the present study indicated that the replacement of CFM by TLP decreased the costs of feed and increase milk production for the replacement level by 50% (R3). Moreover, no adverse effects were noticed on nutrients digestibility and blood parameters of the investigated samples.