Silagens de mucilagem do desfibramento do sisal, com ou sem aditivos, na alimentação de ovinos Soinga: respostas fisiológicas e consumo de água

Abstract

The effect of sisal mucilage silage, with and without additives, on the feeding of lambs was studied. Twenty eight male Soinga lambs, whole, with initial age of five months and initial live weight of 19.79 kg, were distributed in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and six replicates, with 28 animals used for consumption of water and 16 animals for the evaluation of the physiological parameters. Experimental diets were composed of four treatments, forage palm as the control diet (CON) and mucilage silage of pure sisal (MUDS) defibration, and supplemented with maize (MUDSMI) and wheat (MUDSTRI). To evaluate the physiological parameters, the rectal temperature (° C), the heart rate (beats / min), the respiratory rate (motions / min) and the pelt temperature (° C) were measured. Eight liters of water, previously weighed, were provided each morning in each drinking fountain and the next morning, before the new water supply, the water fountain was again weighed, so that the water consumption was calculated by the difference between the weights of the water and leftovers. In addition, monitoring of weather information was carried out. The animals submitted to a diet containing MUDS silage supplemented with wheat bran had the highest (P <0.05) respiratory rate (88 beats per minute), however, the lowest skin temperature (31.37 ºC). MUDS silages with no additive lead to less voluntary water consumption than the additive silages, without, however, altering the total water consumption by the animals. Thus, the Soinga sheep, even under conditions of caloric stress, used thermoregulatory mechanisms to dissipate heat and thus maintain body homeothermia.