THE EFFECT OF SALT AND BENTONITE SUPPLEMENTATION ON FEED AND WATER-INTAKE, FECAL CHARACTERISTICS AND URINE OUTPUT IN SHEEP

The effects of the addition of salt (sodium chloride) and sodium bento nite to hay-based pelleted rations on feed and water intake, digestibi lity, the output of urine and faeces, and faecal consistency were eval uated under conditions resembling those used for the shipment of live sheep The addition of salt to the diet had no effect on dry matter int ake but increased water intake relative to controls (P<0.01), with com mensurate increases in urinary output of more than 1 litre/sheep/day. The diet with bentonite plus salt resulted in a higher dry matter inta ke than controls (P<0.01). The addition of bentonite increased the fae cal dry matter percentage (P<0.05). The effects of the additives on fa ecal water evaporative loss and hardness were not significant. A large variation (52.1-62.6%) between sheep in dry matter digestibility of f eeds was not affected by treatment and this requires further investiga tion. It is recommended that salt not be added to diets used for live sheep shipments.