Study examines coffee pulp in diets for lactating Awassi ewes

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Coffee pulp is getting another look as a feed ingredient for sheep. A newly published Animals study, released in September 2026, examined whether adding coffee pulp to diets for lactating Awassi ewes would affect milk production, nutrient digestibility, and blood parameters, using 30 ewes split across three rations for a nine-week trial. (mdpi.com)

The idea behind the work is familiar across ruminant nutrition: feed costs remain a major pressure point, and agricultural by-products are increasingly being evaluated as partial replacements for conventional ingredients. Coffee processing generates large volumes of pulp and other residues, and researchers have been studying whether those materials can be redirected into livestock diets instead of becoming waste streams. Reviews of the literature describe coffee pulp as nutritionally interesting, but also note practical limits because of anti-nutritional compounds including caffeine, tannins, and high fiber fractions. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

That context matters for this paper because Awassi flocks are already a frequent model for testing alternative feedstuffs in the Middle East. Earlier work from Obeidat and colleagues has evaluated a range of by-products in Awassi sheep, including sesame meal, pomegranate seed pulp, and mixed alternative feeds, often with an eye toward lowering ration costs without compromising milk output or animal health. A 2019 Animals study, for example, found no negative effect on milk production or composition when several alternative feed ingredients partially replaced conventional feeds in Awassi ewes and lambs. (mdpi.com)

The new coffee pulp paper appears to extend that line of work into lactating ewes. From the journal listing, the trial used three dietary treatments with 10 ewes per group and focused on milk yield, digestibility, and blood measures. That design is broadly consistent with the group’s previous feeding studies in Awassi sheep, which often assess not just production endpoints, but also metabolic and health-related indicators to flag unintended effects of unconventional ingredients. (mdpi.com)

Outside this single paper, the wider evidence base on coffee by-products in sheep is mixed but increasingly nuanced. Research in Latxa dairy ewes has reported improved milk yield and milk solids with spent coffee grounds in some formulations, while other studies and reviews suggest that coffee pulp can be used at selected inclusion levels without major production losses. At the same time, older work in sheep found low intake and weight loss when coffee pulp silage was used poorly or without enough balancing, underscoring that “coffee by-product” is not one uniform ingredient and that processing method matters. (sciencedirect.com)

Expert reaction specific to this new paper was limited in publicly indexed sources at the time of writing, but the industry relevance is clear. Coffee by-products sit at the intersection of feed-cost management and circular-economy goals, and recent sheep studies have also explored possible antioxidant or methane-related effects from coffee-derived ingredients. That doesn’t make coffee pulp a plug-and-play ration ingredient, but it does help explain why the category is attracting attention. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Why it matters: For veterinarians, nutritionists, and technical advisers, this study is most useful as another data point on how nontraditional feed ingredients affect both performance and health surveillance markers in dairy sheep. If coffee pulp can replace part of a ration without depressing milk yield or shifting blood parameters in a clinically concerning direction, it could offer producers another tool when conventional feed inputs are expensive or hard to source. But practical adoption will still depend on palatability, consistency of supply, mycotoxin and contaminant control, caffeine and polyphenol load, and the economics of processing and transport. (mdpi.com)

What to watch: The next step is whether the full paper’s numerical results support meaningful on-farm use, and whether follow-on studies test larger flocks, longer feeding periods, milk composition, lamb performance, and cost per unit of milk under commercial conditions. Given the broader literature, veterinary readers should also watch for clearer guidance on safe inclusion thresholds and how coffee pulp compares with other by-products already used in Awassi systems. (mdpi.com)