Comportamiento productivo, variables ruminales y digestibilidad de corderos complementados con bloques nutricionales elaborados con aceite de coco y/o vaina de samanea saman

Abstract

In the dry season in the tropics, the availability and quality of forage is low so an alternative of complementation are the nutritional blocks (BN). The objective was to evaluate the productive behavior, ruminal characteristics and digestibility of lambs fed with pangola grass hay supplemented with BN made with coconut oil and / or Samanea saman sheath. In the in vivo test, 28 Creole lambs (19.6 kg) distributed in individual carriers were used. The treatments were: control BN, BN with 3% coconut oil; BN with 30% S. saman pod and BN with 3% oil and 28% S. saman pod. In the lambs, dry matter consumption of the block (CMSB), dry matter consumption of hay (CMSH), total dry matter consumption (CMST), daily weight gain (GDP), dry matter digestibility (DMS) were measured, organic matter (DMO), neutral detergent fiber (DFDN), acid detergent fiber (DFDA) and crude protein (DPC); as well as, pH, bacteria count, protozoa count, ammoniacal nitrogen (N-NH3) and volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the ruminal fluid of the lambs. The experimental design was completely random. The lambs that consumed BN with coconut oil showed higher CMSB and CMST and lower CMSH (p 0.05) between treatments. The BN with S. saman sheath was different.