INTAKE AND DIGESTIVE PARAMETERS OF SHEEP INGESTING A LOW-QUALITY TROPICAL FORAGE AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF SUPPLEMENTATIONS

Abstract

Aiming to evaluate the effect of three supplementation types on intake and digestive parameters of sheep fed with low-quality tropical forage, three ewes (Santa Inês x SRD) were used in a double-blank Latin Square (3x3) design. The ewes had 43 kg of mean body weight and in each experimental period (a total of six with 14 days) were submitted to one of three treatments: mineral mixture (control treatment); supplement composed by mineral mixture, urea/ammonium sulfate (9:1); and protein supplement for low ingestion: composed by milled grains corn, soybean meal, urea/ammonium sulfate (9:1) and mineral mixture. All animals received chopped Marandu grass (Urochloa brizantha cv.Marandu) in natura, offered twice a day, the supplements were supplied once a day and the mineral mixture ad libitum. It was observed a linear increase (P <0.001) for the protein supplementation treatments on both SDMI (supplement dry matter intake) (0.026; 0.048; 0.084  kg.day^-1) and total crude protein intake (0.02; 0.04; 0.08 kg.day^-1), those values were recorded for treatments mineral mixture, mineral mixture + urea and protein supplement for low ingestion, respectively. The protein supplementation treatments provided an increase on total dry matter intake (p=0.03) when they were compared to the control (MM), the values recorded were 0.4; 0.51; 0.53 kg.day^-1 for treatments mineral mixture, mineral mixture + urea and protein supplement for low ingestion, respectively. That last one produced best result for parameters apparent nutrients digestibility and total digestive nutrients consumption, whereas mineral mixture + urea treatment had similar results as control group. We recommend using the protein supplement for low ingestion as it showed to be more efficient in improving the digestive parameters of sheep fed with low-quality tropical forage.