Intake and digestibility of tropical grass hay fed to Santa Ines sheep in Brazil

Abstract

Ruminant feeding standards in Brazil are generally based on systems developed for temperate regions and there is a serious lack of information on grazed tropical pasture which is the main feedstuff. Signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) represents half of the total cultivated pastures in Brazil (Miles et al., 1996). This study investigated the intake and digestibility by sheep of signal grass hay cut after re-growths of 28 and 56 days to represent the range used in practice in the Brazilian savanna. Lucerne hay was included as a positive control. The hays were offered at two levels of intake to Santa Ines wether sheep.