Mesquite pod meal in diets for Santa Inês sheep: ingestive behavior

Abstract

ABSTRACT. This study aimed to evaluate the ingestive behavior of sheep fed increasing levels of mesquite pod meal (0, 15, 30 and 45% in total dry matter diet), replacing grass silage elephant. Eight noncastrated Santa Inês sheep with average weight of 32 kg were divided into two 4 x 4 Latin squares, each lasting 15 days. The sheep were submitted to visual observation every ten minutes, for 24 hours, in the 13 th day of each experimental period. There was no significant regression (p > 0.05) relative to the time spent on feeding, rumination and resting, depending on the levels of substitution of mesquite pod meal. The average time spent on feeding, rumination and resting was 5.64, 10.88 and 8.8h day -1 , respectively. There was a positive linear effect (p < 0.05) regarding the levels of replacement of elephant grass silage by mesquite pod meal on dry matter intake (DMI), neutral detergent fiber intake (NDFI), feeding efficiency of DM, rumination efficiency of DM, rumination efficiency of NDF. The use of observation intervals of up to 30 minutes does not alter the assessment of time spent on feeding, rumination and resting.

<b>Mesquite pod meal in sheep diet: intake, apparent digestibility of nutrients and nitrogen balance

“…However, when the fiber is digestible, this stimulates consumption by increasing the rate of passage, so that there is an increase in feeding efficiency. Pereira et al (2013) reported that with the use of forage containing fiber with physical effectiveness and low digestibility, the addition of MPM promoted increased dry matter intake efficiency. Probably the increase in NDF intake is associated with higher degradability and smaller particle size of the MPM, favoring fermentation and stimulating DM intake.…”

“…Mesquite is a legume widespread in the Northeast region and has attracted attention because of its excellent nutritional value, being a rich energy source (Silva et al, 2001), and for this reason it has been extensively studied (Ali et al, 2012;Girma et al, 2012;Pereira et al, 2013). Generally, mesquite pods (Prosopis juliflora) are transformed into meal and then used for animal feed, being an interesting option for sheep feeding in the dry period.…”

Ingestive behavior of Anglo Nubian goats fed diets containing mesquite pod meal

“…Y ijk = µ + T i + P j + A kl + e ij , em que: µ = constante geral; T i = efeito do tratamento ou nível de substituição i, sendo i = 0; 33,3; 66,6 e 100%; P j = efeito do período experimental j, sendo j=1, 2, 3 e 4; A k = efeito do animal e e ijk = erro experimental, associado a cada observação, pressuposto NID (0, σ 2 ). Os dados obtidos foram submetidos à análise de variância pelo procedimento estatístico PROC MIXED (SAS, Littel et al, 1996) (Carvalho et al, 2006;Pereira et al, 2013b Neste estudo, os valores observados para a eficiência de ruminação, ao considerar o número de bolos formados, apresentaram efeito linear crescente (Tabela 4), sugerindo que o farelo de algaroba favoreceu a frequência de regurgitação ao mesmo tempo em que reduziu a quantidade em gramas de MS e de FDN ruminados a cada hora. Atribuem-se as eficiências de ruminação verificadas neste estudo ao teor e qualidade físico-química de fibras provenientes da silagem de capim-elefante associados aos de farelo de algaroba, além disso, o comportamento inverso do número de bolos ruminados (nº/dia) em relação à eficiência de ruminação de MS e FDN, possivelmente se devem à questão do aumento do teor de fibra digestível com menor tamanho de partícula proporcionado pela adição de farelo de algaroba.…”

Feeding behavior of early weaned lambs deprived of roughage

“…This indicated that the amount and type of CF was directly related to the duration of ruminating (Albright, 1993)and, respectively, was reduced if roughage was cut into little particles or only concentrated feed was provided, which reduced ruminating time (Van Soest, 1994). Pereira et al (2013) reported that the times for feeding, ruminating and rest were affected by the size of the feed particles, allowing the microorganisms to colonise and degrade the feed intake faster.…”