Associação palma forrageira (Opuntia ficus indica Mill) feno de erva-sal (Atriplex nummularia L.) em dietas para cordeiros Santa Inês em confinamento

Abstract

The study was carried out to evaluate growth performance, nutrients intake, digestibility, and profitability of Santa Inês lambs fed with increasing levels of spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill). Forty lambs not castrate9, with initial live weight of 19.46±2.35 kg and four months of age were distributed in a randomized design with four diets and 10 replicates. The levels ofspineless cactus intluenced DMI (kg, %LW, and L WO.75), been observed quadratic effect with maximum values of 1.29 kg, 4.84% and 109.75 g/LW075, respectively, to 28.8, 21.4, and 23.6% of spineless cactus. Quadratic effect was found to üMI, NDFI, TCHüI, and NFCI, while for MM1 and CPI were observed decreasing linear effect. There is no inf1uence of cactus levei on MEl and EEI (2.7±0.3 Mcal e 25.4±4.9 g, respectively). Water intake from diet increased with spineless cactus inc1usion, been observed inverse behaviour for water drinking. Total water intake was not intluenced by inclusion of spineless cactus (4.8±0.7 L), as DM and üM aparent digestibilities. It was observed linear effect for CP aparent digestibility, while NDF aparent digestibility had quadratic effect, with minimum value of 19.1 % at the levei of 27.5% of cactus. Feed conversion was improved with the inclusion of cactus, decreasing DMI in 12.8 g/kg of ADG to each unit of increasing in spineless cactus leveI. There was quadratic effect for both, crude protein and metabolizable energy feed convertion, as well as ADG, whose maximum value was 0.26 kg at the levei of 35.0% of cactus in the diet. The inclusion of spineless cactus increased the crude margin and the cost per kg of carcass was lower for the levei of 67.9%. The cactus levei of 35.0% in the diet resulted in higher growth rate, however, from the point of economic view, the inclusion of 67.9% promoted the best income, with profitability of 69.0%. The results indicate that the use of spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill), at the studied levels, in oldman saltbush (Atriplex nummularia L.) hay-based total mixed diets presents as a viable alternative for lambs production in fedlot.