Fontes de carboidratos associado à ureia em substituição ao farelo de soja na alimentação de caprinos e ovinos

Abstract

The production of small ruminants over the years has been showing significant growth in Brazil. The Northeastern region is characterized as the most important in this context, since of 17.61 million sheep and 9.6 million goats in the country, it accounts for 57.5% of this population (IBGE, 2014). Most of them are animals with no defined racial pattern, created by small producers, serving as a source of income and food for the family. It should be noted that, according to the FAO (2010) data, caprine and poultry farming can contribute to the challenges of conquering and maintaining new markets for the production of animal protein for human consumption, as well as promoting rural development, the poor. For this, however, it is necessary to organize the production chain, in an attempt to reduce seasonality in production through food, reproductive and sanitary management techniques. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the optimization of the use of carbohydrate sources associated to urea in replacement of soybean meal in small ruminants.