Feno de capim tifton, casca de soja e caroço de algodão como fonte de fibra em dietas à base de palma forrageira para ovinos

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effect of different sources of fiber (tifton hay, soybean hulls and whole cottonseed) in forage cactus-based diets for sheep in feedlot termination. In the research, 21 sheep were used with no defined racial standard, non-castrated with initial average weight of 18.90 ± 1.07 kg. The intake of dry and organic matter, total carbohydrates and total digestive nutrients, were not influenced by the different fiber sources (1.10; 0.97; 0.73 and 0.80 kg/day, respectively). The animals which received diets containing whole cottonseed presented lower intake of crude protein and neutral detergent fiber (0.11 and 0.29 kg/day respectively) and greater intake of ether extract (0.048 kg/day). The different sources of fiber propitiated similar feeding time, however the rumination time was greater for tifton hay (429.05 min/day). The digestibility coefficient of dry and organic matter differed between the treatments, where the diet with soybean hulls showed greater digestion(83.23 and 86.72%, respectively). The diet with whole cottonseed presented the smallest digestibility coefficient of crude protein (68.95%) and greatest for ether extract (85.94%). The daily weight gain of animals fed with whole cottonseed was smallest (0.11 kg/day). It is recommended the use of tifton hay or soybean hulls as a source of fiber in forage cactus-based diets for SPRD sheep in feedlot termination.