Intake and digestibility in sheep fed on marandu grass silages added with dehydrated barley

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the intake and the apparent digestibility in sheep fed on marandu grass silages added with dehydrated barley. Twenty crossbred Santa Inês lambs were used, with a mean initial weight of 30±4.5 kg and mean age of 14±2 months. The experimental sheep were distributed into a completely randomized design and lining, with five treatments and four repetitions, with treatments levels of inclusion of 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% natural matter of naturally dehydrated brewery residue for 36 hours to the marandu grass silage to feed the sheep. The evaluation period lasted 21 days, 15 for adaptation to the diets and 7 days for data collection. The data was submitted to analysis of variance, and when significant (P<0.05) the treatment means were analysed by regression. The inclusion of dehydrated barley to silage showed a linear increase in water intake (P<0.05), increased by 0.02% per unit of dehydrated barley. A quadratic effect was observed for the levels of dehydrated barley on the dry matter intake (DM), estimating a maximum consumption of 2.86% DM for silages containing 17.8% dehydrated barley. The crude protein intake (CP) behaved quadratically, with the maximum value estimated of 0.29% CP at a level of 22.5% dehydrated barley. Ether extract (EE) intake also exhibited quadratic behaviour (P<0.05), with the maximum value estimated of 0.2% EE at a level of 28.25% dehydrated barley. The regression study showed quadratic behaviour; with the maximum estimated value of neutral detergent fibre was 2.33% at a level of 34.58% dehydrated barley. No statistical significance was found for the intake of acid detergent fibre or organic matter (P>0.05). It was concluded that the addition of levels of 20 to 30% of dehydrated barley to silage resulted in a positive response for the dry matter intake, crude protein, Ether extract and neutral detergent fibre.

The inclusion of detoxified castor bean meal in sugarcane silage increases the carcass weight and the content of unsaturated fatty acids in lamb meat

“…Possibly, the reduction in the intake of CP, from the level of 153.8 g/kg DCBM, is associated with the intake of DCBM in silage, because the proportion of soybean meal was reduced by up to 66% in the concentrate. Ferreira et al (2017) also found a quadratic effect on the intake of CP in sheep fed grass silage with dry by‐product with a high protein content.…”

Sustitución del pasto Megathyrsus maximus por guineo cuadrado y urea en mezclas ensiladas

“…Aumentar la cantidad de guineo cuadrado en los ensilados disminuyó la digestibilidad de la fibra; pero la calidad de la mezcla total se incrementó por el aporte de carbohidratos no fibrosos a los ensilados, lo que mejoró el valor relativo del forraje, que en consecuencia mejoró el aporte de nutrimentos al animal (Ferreira et al, 2017).…”

Digestive Potential of Soybean Agro-Industry Byproducts

“…Regions with tropical climate have many genera of grasses (Pennisetum, Panicum, Cynodon, and Brachiaria) that can be recommended for silage; among them, the grasses of the genus Brachiaria can be highlighted due to their high potential for biomass production, their adaptation to low soil fertility, and low pH tolerance [1]. However, the silage of these grasses may not result in the silage of good nutritional quality due to the high moisture content (approximately to 80%), low water-soluble carbohydrates (lower than 1% dry matter, DM), and high buffering power (greater than 20 EQ-HCl) on the 70th day, which is the best time for harvesting [1,2].…”

“…Byproducts from cereal and food processing may have characteristics that make them viable for inclusion in the grass silage process [2] such as the soybean hulls produced as a byproduct of the soybean industry and which can be considered a potential additive to be included in the grass silage process, due to its high water retention capacity, which limits the development of Clostridium spp. and allows a rapid drop in pH, so when included in Brachiaria decumbens silage (BDS), this byproduct improves the fermentation and nutritional value of the silage, despite presenting low water-soluble carbohydrates.…”