| Summary: | The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratio on the growth performance, serum biochemical parameters, rumen fermentation parameters, and economic benefits of Guiqian semi-fine wool sheep in Northwest Guizhou. A total of 60 healthy male lambs with body weight of (20.29±1.58) kg were randomly divided into five groups, with three replicates per group and four lambs per replicate. Groups Ⅰ to Ⅴ were fed diets with concentrate-to-roughage ratios of 20∶80, 30∶70, 40∶60, 50∶50, and 60∶40, respectively. The pre-test period was seven days, and the formal test period was 75 days. The results showed that group Ⅲ had the highest average daily gain, which was significantly higher than that in groups Ⅰ and Ⅴ (<italic>P</italic><0.05). Group Ⅰ had the highest average daily feed intake, which was significantly higher than that in group Ⅴ (<italic>P</italic><0.05). Group Ⅲ had the lowest feed-to-gain ratio, which was significantly lower than that in groups Ⅰ and Ⅴ (<italic>P</italic><0.05). The content of serum urea nitrogen (BUN) in group Ⅲ was significantly higher than that in groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ (<italic>P</italic><0.05). Rumen fluid propionic acid content in groups Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅲ was significantly lower than that in groups Ⅳ and Ⅴ (<italic>P</italic><0.05), while the acetate/propionate was significantly higher than that in groups Ⅳ and Ⅴ (<italic>P</italic><0.05). The rumen fluid ammonia nitrogen content in group Ⅲ was significantly higher than that in group Ⅰ (<italic>P</italic><0.05). Group Ⅲ achieved the highest economic benefit, with net income increased by 18.77%, 13.84%, 21.85%, and 133.33% compared with groups Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅳ, and Ⅴ, respectively. The study shows that an appropriate dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratio can effectively improve the growth performance and enhance economic benefits of Guiqian semi-fine wool sheep. Considering all indicators comprehensively, the diet with a concentrate-to-roughage ratio of 40∶60 yields the optimal effect.
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