Comportamento ingestivo de cabras de aptidão leiteira alimentadas com feno de flor de seda

Abstract

This work aims to study the effects of different levels of silk flower hay (0, 9, 18, 27 and 36%) instead of the concentrate, on the ingestive behavior of five goats from alpine trunk, lactating, with initial medium body weight of 42±0,59 kg, housed in individual stalls, during five experimental periods. Distributed in a Latin square design 5 x 5, animals have been observed in each of the five treatments, by the end of each experimental period, during 24 hours, in intervals of 5 minutes. There was a linear increasing to the feeding time, whereas there was a linear reduction to the time spent in leisure. Although, the animals which have received until 36% of silk flower hay did not change the dry matter intake (DMI), the feed efficiency (in g of DM/h) has decreased linearly; this behavior is similar to the rumination efficiency (in g of DM/h and g of NDF/h). The inclusion of 36% of silk flower hay instead of the concentrate to lactating goats do not change the dry matter intake (DMI), and has decreased linearly the feed efficiency in g of MS/h; about the rumination efficiency of DM and NDF is reduced linearly. The time which animals have spent in feeding and leisure has been affected by the inclusion of silk flower hay in the diet.