Respostas fisiológicas de ovinos alimentados com palma forrageira

Abstract

The aim of study was to evaluate the effect of forage palm based diets on the physiological indicators of sheep, as well as, to analyze the correlation of these parameters with total digestible nutrients consumption. For this, the experimental protocol was approved by CEUA/UFRPE, under the license of 053/2015, using 36 lambs, with an average age of six months and initial body weight of 23.0 ± 3.11 kg, distributed in a design completely randomized, with three treatments and 12 repetitions. The experimental period comprised 86 days, with a base diet (Tifton hay, maize corn, soybean meal, urea, and mineral salt) and diets in which Tifton hay was partially replaced by forage palm (either Nopalea Cochenillifera Salm Dyck or Opuntia stricta Haw). The diets were given twice a day in the form of complete feed. In order to evaluate the physiological parameters, respiratory frequency (RF), heart rate (HR), rectal temperature (RT) and body temperature (BT) were measured. These data were collected on the 50th and 55th experimental days at 8:00 am and 3:00 p.m. Also, the air temperature and air moisture were measured during the experiment. The obtained data were submitted to analysis of variance and average grade comparison by Tukey test and Pearson correlation analysis between variables. No interaction has been noticed between the diet and the shift, nor was there a dietary effect on the evaluated variables. However, RF and BT were higher in the morning in comparison to the afternoon shift. All the values recorded for HR and RF were above normal for the species. It was verified that the variables RF and BT correlated positively and significantly with the intake of total digestible nutrients in the animals that received the control diet in both shifts. It is concluded that the experimental diets did not cause damages to the physiological parameters, and the climatic conditions are responsible for increasing the physiological variables.