Nutritional evaluation of soybean hulls in sheep

Abstract

Soybean hulls collected from soybean processing centres were analysed for chemical composition. The digestibility of nutrients and nutritive value was estimated in adult sheep. Soybean hulls contained 89.55% Dry Matter (DM), 94.80% Organic Matter (OM), 12.32% Crude Protein (CP), 32.54% Crude Fibre (CF), 2.70% Ether Extract (EE), 47.24% Nitrogen Free Extracts (NFE), and 5.20% Total Ash (TA). Fibre fractions of soybean hulls were estimated to be 66.10% Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF), 49.72% Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and 2.75% Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL). The major minerals namely Calcium and Phosphorus were 0.64% and 0.20%, respectively. The digestible crude protein (9.01%) and total digestible nutrient (70.58%) contents indicated that soybean hulls were highly digestible in sheep. Soybean hulls could provide adequate nutrients to meet maintenance and growth requirements of adult sheep when fed as a sole feed.