ABSTRACT
Reproduction is very responsive to changes in animal nutritional supply (O’Callaghan and Boland 1999). Animals raised under desert conditions usually face many hazards, e.g., salinity stress from feed and drinking water, fresh water shortage, high temperature and food shortage. The combination of salt in animal feed and drinking water is of critical importance. When the high salt intake comes from feed alone, and there is an unlimited supply of fresh water, the animal can cope by increasing water intake thereby increasing the salt excreting capacity of the kidneys (Squires, this volume). This cannot happen if the salt is present in both feed materials and drinking water. This has signifi cant practical consequences; any level of salt in drinking water will compound the effects of a high dietary salt intake. Such an interaction is likely to be more important during hotter, dry periods of the year (Wilson 1975). Under these challenging conditions, feeding halophytes or/and salt tolerant fodder crops is a feasible solution to minimize the problem of feed shortage especially in arid and semi-arid regions (El-Shaer 2010). The use of halophytic plants (e.g., Atriplex spp.; Acacia spp.; and Kochia spp.; Nitraria retusa; Tamarix spp., etc.) and salt-tolerant plants (e.g., Sudan grass (Sorghum halepense); pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum; Sorghum spp); fodder beet (Beta vulgaris); Panicum spp.; and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) represents one of the few options available to re-vegetate salinized lands and re-establish grazing systems (Masters et al. 2007; El Shaer 2010).
