SRA

A total of 60 mutton sheep aged 3-4 months were equally divided into control group and experimental group with three replicates in each group and ten sheep in each replicate pen. The sheep in the two groups were fed control diets and test diets at 4:00 a.m. and 14:00 daily, respectively, with free drinking water and same feeding and management methods. All the animals were vaccinated, therefore, the sheep were raised for 119 d, which included a preparation period of 14 d and a formal experimental period of 105 d. The basic diet of the mutton sheep of both groups was the same: inorganic trace minerals and oligosaccharides chelated OTMs with equal mineral content were added at 0.1% to the diets of both groups.