Nutritive value of red vine husks and pips for sheep

The potential of red vine husks and pips as a component of animal feed was investigated. Twenty-five Dohne Merino ram lambs (mean live weight ± s.d. = 41.4 ± 2.3 kg) were used. A completely randomised design was used and the animals were assigned to five diets including 0, 12.5, 25.0, 37.5 and 50% vine husks and pips together with pelleted lucerne hay, respectively. The voluntary intake of feed and water were not negatively influenced by the percentage vine husks and pips included in the diet. The digestibility of the crude protein, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre decreased significantly, while the dry matter digestibility showed a strong tendency towards a lower digestibility as the percentage vine husks and pips increased in the diet. According to the plasma metabolites, no toxic effects were evident in this study.