Nutritional value of babassu cake as a substitute for sugarcane in feeding heifers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate intake, digestibility and performance in dairy heifers fed diets containing increasing levels of babassu cake (0, 100, 200 and 300 g kg -1 dry matter -DM) as a substitute for sugarcane treated with calcium oxide.Twenty-four heifers with an initial mean weight of 190.8 + 40.8 kg were used, distributed in a completely randomised design. The dry matter intake (DMI), neutral detergent fi bre intake (NDFI) and acid detergent fi bre intake (ADFI), as %BW and g BW -0.75 , showed an increasing linear response. The organic matter intake (OMI) showed a linear increase of 40 g day -1 , 0.017%BW and 0.66 g BW -0.75 for each 10 g kg -1 increase in babassu cake in the diet. The apparent digestibility of the dry matter (ADDM) and organic matter (ADOM) showed a quadratic response (P < 0.05), with a minimum of 493 g kg -1 DM for 150 g kg -1 DM and 526.5 g kg -1 DM for 320 g kg -1 DM as a substitute for the sugarcane, respectively. The fi nal mean weight was not altered, presenting a value of 299.7 + 45.5 kg. Daily weight gain (DWG) showed a quadratic response, with the highest value at a substitution level of 190 g kg -1 DM. The feed conversion rate of the DM was not aff ected by the addition of babassu cake, with an average of 4.6 + 0.74 kg DM kg -1 in weight gain. Babassu cake can substitute hydrolysed sugarcane in heifer diets up to 300 g kg -1 DM, with the greatest weight gain seen at a substitution level of 190 g kg -1 DM.