Effect of increasing bentonite supplementation on fattening performance of lambs

Authors

  • Sándor Kukovics Magyar Juh- és Kecsketejgazdasági Közhasznú Egyesület, 2030 Érd, Hóvirág u. 28. és Juh Terméktanács, 8100 Várpalota, Veszprémi u. 7. , Hungarian Sheep and Goat Dairying Public Utility Association, 2030 Érd, Hóvirág 28., Hungary and Sheep Product Council, 8100 Várpalota, Veszprémi 7., Hungary
  • Zoltán Naár Tokaj-Hegyalja Egyetem, Sárospatak, 3950 Sárospatak, Eötvös út. 7. , University of Tokaj, H-3950 Sárospatak, Eötvös str. 7., Hungary
  • József Rádli Dörögdi Mező Kft, 8295 Taliándörögd, hrsz. 0187/8. , Dörögdi Mező Ltd, 8295 Taliándörögd, hrsz. 0187/8., Hungary
  • Ferenc Kukovics Magyar Juh- és Kecsketejgazdasági Közhasznú Egyesület, 2030 Érd, Hóvirág u. 28. , Hungarian Sheep and Goat Dairying Public Utility Association, 2030 Érd, Hóvirág 28., Hungary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17205/aweth.7057

Keywords:

bentonite supplementation, lamb fattening, feed utilization, profitability

Abstract

In this lamb fattening experiment, different daily doses of bentonite were used. Three of six groups received 20, 30 and 40 g/day/head bentonite supplementation, respectively. The fourth group received 20 g/day/head bentonite during the first 20 days and 25 g during the second 20 days. The fifth group received 30 g/day/head bentonite in the first 20 days and 35 g in the second 20 days. The sixth group was the control, which received no bentonite supplementation. In all cases, the bentonite was spread on the daily lamb feed. In this study, we analysed the effect of different bentonite supplements on the weight gain of lambs and the efficiency of fattening. The IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 program was used to process the data. During lamb fattening, increasing the bentonite dose to a certain extent, the daily weight gain of lambs increased, and the amount of feed needed to gain one kg of weight gain decreased, which reduced the cost of feed used for one kg of weight gain. The specific feed utilization was the most favourable in the case of the fourth experimental group, where the specific feed cost decreased by 12.5% compared to the control group. 

Author Biography

  • Sándor Kukovics, Magyar Juh- és Kecsketejgazdasági Közhasznú Egyesület, 2030 Érd, Hóvirág u. 28. és Juh Terméktanács, 8100 Várpalota, Veszprémi u. 7., Hungarian Sheep and Goat Dairying Public Utility Association, 2030 Érd, Hóvirág 28., Hungary and Sheep Product Council, 8100 Várpalota, Veszprémi 7., Hungary

    corresponding author

References

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Published

2025-06-19

Issue

Section

Articels

How to Cite

Kukovics, S., Naár, Z., Rádli, J., & Kukovics, F. (2025). Effect of increasing bentonite supplementation on fattening performance of lambs. Animal Welfare, Ethology and Housing Systems (AWETH), 21(1), 67-76. https://doi.org/10.17205/aweth.7057

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