Abstract

This study was performed at the governorate of Alkhurmah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Twenty growing Najdi lambs aged six months with average body weight 35.22± 0.107 and 33.67± 0.107 kg for males and females, respectively were allotted based on their gender into two main groups (10 males and 10 females), each gender divided into two subgroups the first subgroup of each gender served as control while the second was supplemented with Lactobacillus sporogenes 37.50×103, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 625.0×103 CFU, 1g Alpha amylase and 20g sea wood powder / kg diet (concentrate feed mixture) for six months. The results indicated that lambs supplemented with probiotics in diet had better improvement (P< 0.05) on growth performance indices (Average daily gain, growth rate and total weight gain) compared with control subgroups in both genders. Probiotics increased (P< 0.05) the values of plasma total protein, glucose, urea nitrogen and aspartate aminotransferase compared with control group. On the other hand, total cholesterol concentration decreased significantly (P< 0.05) in lambs supplemented with probiotics than control groups. The mean values of plasma immunoglobulin A did not differ in both control and treated groups during the study period, while plasma immunoglobulin G increased significantly (P< 0.05) in lambs supplemented with probiotics compared with control groups in both genders. Plasma total lipids and aspartate aminotransferase concentrations remained relatively stable throughout the study period in both probiotics and control groups. In conclusion, probiotic supplementations can be used as the important biological additives for enhancing growth indices and immunity status of growing lambs.