CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, CONSUMPTION AND DIGESTIBILITY OF CACTACEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SABIÁ HAY IN RUMINANTS
Cactaceae, strategic forages, mandacaru without spines, ruminant nutrition, semiarid
The objective of this research was to evaluate the voluntary intake, apparent
digestibility of nutrients and ingestive behavior in the diet of crossbred sheep (1⁄2 Soinga
x 1⁄2 Santa Inês). Experimental diets were composed of 43,09 to 52,57% of the dry matter
of a cactácea - Palma Miúda (Nopalea cochenillifera), Mexican Elephant Ear (Opuntia
stricta) and mandacaru without spine (Cereus hildmannianus K. Schum), 19,47% to
23,38% of sage hay (Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia), constituting the voluminous portion of
the diet, 27,95% to 31,33 of concentrate and 1,84 to 2,20% of mineral salt. Fifteen
uncastrated male sheep, 4 months of age and average initial body weight of 17,27 kg ±
1,05 kg housed in metabolism cages, were distributed in a completely randomized
experimental design with three treatments and five replicates. The experimental period
lasted for 21 days - 14 days for adaptation to diets and seven days for data collection.
There were no differences (P> 0,05) for dry matter intake (DMI), organic matter
consumption (OMI), ethereal extract consumption (EEI), neutral detergent fiber
consumption (NDFI), total carbohydrate consumption (CCHOTI), non-fibrous
carbohydrate consumption (CCNF), total digestible nutrient consumption (CNDT) and
voluntary water intake among experimental diets with mean values of 800,28 g day
-1 (4.36% PV); 706 g day-1 ; 23,73 g day-1 ; 231,80 g day-1 ; 577.87 g day-1 ; The crude protein
consumption (CPI) was influenced (P <0,05) by the experimental diets, with a higher
intake of Animals that received the mandacaru treatment without spines, with 145,10 g day -1
of CPI. The animals that consumed OEM palm presented higher dietary and total
water intake, with a mean of 4.478,61 g of water / day and 4.625,94 g / day, respectively.
There were no differences (P> 0,05) for the digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, NDF
and NDT among the experimental diets, with mean values of 68,10%; 69,78%; 56,37%
and 65,57%, respectively. There was a significant difference (P <0,05) for CP digestibility
coefficient between diets composed of Mexican elephant ear palm and small palm, with
higher CDPI for first diet, with a mean of 64.05%. Behavioral variables, rumination time,
feeding efficiency and rumination were not influenced by diets (P> 0,05). For the feeding
time it was significant (P <0,05) for the diet composed by OEM. Cactaceae, small palm,
OEM palm and mandacaru without and thorns associated with sabiá hay provided
satisfactory nutrient consumption to the animals requirement, resulting in more strategic
options for the semiarid.