NUTRITIONAL AND METABOLIC PARAMETERS OF SHEEP FED EXTRUDED ROUGHAGE LEVELS

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the effect of using different levels of inclusion of extruded roughage to replace corn silage on nutritional and metabolic parameters in sheep. For this, 20 ewes aged over three years were used, housed in metabolic cages, distributed in a completely randomized design in four treatments, which consisted of different levels of inclusion of extruded roughage to replace corn silage (20%, 40%, 60% and 80%). Dry matter intake (DMI) and water intake were calculated by the difference between what was offered and what was left over. Blood glucose and energy and protein metabolites were obtained through blood collection by jugular venipuncture and subsequent laboratory analyses, and feeding behavior by observation every 5 minutes for 24 hours. DMI and water intake increased linearly with the inclusion of extruded roughage in the diet. The greater inclusion of extruded roughage reduced the total chewing time, consequently increasing the efficiency of ingestion, rumination and total chewing. There was no effect of treatments on the concentrations of energy and protein metabolites, with the exception of the urea and uric acid concentration, in which there was a quadratic effect with the use of extruded roughage. The inclusion of extruded roughage in the diet of sheep increases the dry matter intake, without altering the digestibility of nutrients, reducing the time spent on chewing, in addition to maintaining energy and protein metabolism at adequate serum levels.