ABSTRACT
The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate the long-term effect of a low roughage diet (7-8% CF) with or without sulphur (S) supplementation (elemental and sodium sulphate 1:1) on basal dietary components, Zn, Cu and S availability, rumen metabolism and health in growing sheep. The control diet contained 0.2% and the supplemented diet 0.8% of S on a DM basis. The experiment lasted 12 weeks. The intake of the diet with 0.8% of S resulted in an increase in rumen acetic acid concentration. Rumen lactic acid concentrations in S-supplemented versus control sheep were higher in the first and lower in the third month, and decreased at the end of the third month of the experiment in both groups. Blood plasma pyruvate was lower at the end of the experiment in S-supplemented sheep than in control sheep. In the 5th week of the experiment, the high S diet depressed basal nutritional components as well as Zn and Cu availability. After 12 weeks of feeding of this diet, polioencephalomalacia had developed in all sheep.
