Dietary Supplementation of Seaweed (Ulva lactuca) to
alleviate the Impact of Heat Stress in Growing Lambs
Kkalid A. Abdoun*, Aly B. Okab, Ahmed M. El-Waziry,
Emad M. Samara and Ahmed A. Al-Haidary
Department of Animal Production, College of Food
and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, PO Box 2460, Riyadh
11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
*Corresponding author:
abdounn@yahoo.com
Abstract
Several environmental and nutritional management
approaches have been used to mitigate heat stress and improve performance of
farm animals in semi-arid and arid regions.The present study was designed with the intention to alleviatethe
negative effects of heat stress and to promote the performance of growing lambs
reared under hot environmental conditions. The study was conducted on 18 male
Naimey lambs with average body weight of 22.78±0.49 kg, and 4-5 months old. The
animals were randomly divided into 3 equal groups (A, B and C), and fed diets
containing different concentrations of seaweed (Ulva lactuca) for 90
days. Group A served as control and was offered diet containing 0.0% seaweed.
Groups B and C served as treated groups and were offered diets containing 3.0
and 5.0% seaweed, respectively. Dietary inclusion of seaweed to the diet of
growing lambs exposed to heat stress (max Ta43.9oC, max RH 81.1%, max THI 84.6) neither influenced (P>0.05) the thermo-physiological
parameters (rectal and skin temperatures), nor affected (P>0.05) the performance
parameters (feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency).
Furthermore, dietary seaweed supplementation did not alter (P>0.05) blood
constituents or blood antioxidant capacity. However, dietary seaweed
supplementation significantly (P<0.05) reduced respiratory rate, and increased serum potassium
concentration. Based on the data of the present study,seaweed (Ulva
lactuca) supplementation to the diets of growing lambs reared under heat
stress conditions did not show any indication of promoting their production
performance or heat tolerance.