Animal Feed Science and Technology 135 (2007) 210–221 Effects of feeding ensiled date palm fronds and a by-product concentrate on performance and meat quality of Omani sheep Osman Mahgoub ∗ , Isam T. Kadim, Musab H. Al-Busaidi, Kanthi Annamalai, Naseeb M. Al-Saqri Department of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 34, Al-Khod 123, Sultanate of Oman Received 18 June 2005; received in revised form 28 June 2006; accepted 20 July 2006 Abstract A study was carried out to investigate the potential use of date palm by-products for feeding Omani local sheep. Thirty-two Omani sheep were fed for 120 days one of four ration combinations of two roughages and two concentrates. The roughages were urea treated palm frond (UTPF) and Rhodes grass hay (RGH). The concentrates were a pelleted commercial cubes (CC) and a concentrate made from local by-products (BC). Experimental measurements included daily feed intakes, bi-weekly body weights, hematological values, apparent digestibility, and carcass and meat quality characteristics. The BC was formulated from 250 ground date fronds, 250 wheat bran, 200 ground Prosopis juliflora pods, 150 barley grain and 120 g/kg dried sardines plus vitamin and mineral additives. The UTPF silage was prepared by ensiling shredded palm fronds in a 30 g/l urea solution for 5 weeks. On dry matter (DM) basis, the BC and CC concentrates contained 179 and 180 g/kg crude protein (CP); 241 and 56 g/kg acid detergent fiber (ADF); 379 and 182 g/kg neutral detergent fiber (NDF); 118 and 73 g/kg ash; 17.9 and 18.3 kJ/g DM gross energy (GE), respectively. The UTPF and RGH contained 85 and 100 g/kg CP; 580 and 370 g/kg ADF; 740 and 614 g/kg NDF; 120 and 95 g/kg ash; 19.2 and 17.3 kJ/g DM GE, respectively. Experimental animals fed the date palm by-products were in good health throughout the trial. In absolute terms, sheep fed the UTPF had lower feed intakes than those fed the RGH but feed Abbreviations: ADF, acid detergent fiber; BC, by-product concentrate; BW, body weight; CC, commercial concentrate; CP, crude protein; DM, dry matter; EBW, empty body weight; EE, ether extract; FCR, feed conversion ratio; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; RGH, Rhodes grass hay; UTPF, urea treated palm fronds ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +968 24415248; fax: +968 24413418. E-mail address: osmahgob@squ.edu.om (O. Mahgoub). 0377-8401/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2006.07.011