Influência da suplementação sobre o comportamento ingestivo de vacas leiteiras mestiças em pastagens de Brachiaria decumbens Stapf.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize cultivated pastures of Brachiaria decumbens Stapf, in the period of transition between drought and humid season, through three sampling methods: direct cutting, collecting extrusa and simulated grazing. Thus, we intent to associate the observations of behaviour of dairy ingestion of crossbred tricross (¾ Holstein, ¾ Brown Swiss, ¾ Gir) in grazing, subject to supplementation with silage corn and cactus pear as forage and a concentrate mixture composed of meal soybean, wheat bran, corn meal and cottonseed meal and soybean meal as the only constituent of concentrate in the South Agreste region of Pernambuco. To evaluate the quality of grass used the randomized design, and methods for the assessment and treatment periods, the repetitions. Eight cows after peak lactation were chose for the evaluations of behaviour, with average weight of 500kg and average production of milk of 16 kg/day, kept on pastures of Brachiaria decumbens in continuous grazing with stocking rate fixed. The supplement food was done diary, twice per day, and add the total between 3am and 23h30min. The environmental monitoring was conducted at the 11th and 13th experimental days, with the aid of a digital thermo-hygrometer, during observations of behaviour, lasting for 20 hours,every 30 minutes. The variables topics noticed were temperature (° C), humidity (% RH), temperature and humidity index (THI%) and ventilation (m / s). there was a significant difference (p <0.10) between the percentage of time of supplement consumption, leisure, rumination and rate of eating at the time of supplementation. The time spent on the consumption of supplement was superior to supplements based on palm, due to the fact that it has less dry forage, what do matter content also influences the bit rate, reducing the number of seizures per minute that food. Supplements based on corn silage provided longer periods of rumination than those made of cactus pear, the opposite occurring for the Palm-based supplements that presented higher percentage of time for leisure. The supplementary food influences the ingestive behaviour of Tricross crossbred milk cows.