Comportamento ingestivo de caprinos e ovinos recebendo diferentes fontes de carboidratos associado à ureia em substituição ao farelo de soja

Abstract

Northeastern Brazil has a great ability to raise goats and sheep in the semiarid region, but there is a difficulty in homogeneous production of food during the year. The use of alternative food in feed that is adapted to the semi-arid climate, such as forage palm and manioc, can minimize the problem. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of different sources of carbohydrates associated with urea in replacement of soybean meal on the ingestive behavior of sheep and goats. Four goats and four sheep with permanent fistula in the rumen were used, arranged in a 4x4 Latin square design, receiving the experimental diets with different sources of carbohydrates and urea replacing the soybean meal. The diets were composed of four treatments: a) corn and soybean meal, b) corn and urea, c) manioc and urea scrap, and d) forage palm and urea. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and the means were compared by the Tukey test, at 5% significance. There was no significant difference (P> 0.05) in the ingestive behavior between goats and sheep. However, animals fed the diet containing manioc and urea showed a longer time in leisure (977.50 minutes / day), followed by the animals of the diets with forage palm and urea (845 minutes / day) corn + soybean meal (822.50) and corn + urea (821.25 minutes). The feeding and rumination efficiencies were not influenced by the animal species either by the diets. Thus, it is concluded that the association of energetic foods produced in the region (palm and manioc rasa) associated with urea does not compromise the ingestive behavior of goats and sheep.