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  • Title: Behavior of sheep fed babassu cake (Orbygnia speciosa) as a substitution for elephant grass silage.
    Author: Neta ERDS, Alves KS, Mezzomo R, Gomes DÍ, Oliveira LRS, Carvalho FFR, Luz JB, Lacerda NG, Bourdon VDDS.
    Journal: Anim Sci J; 2017 Aug; 88(8):1171-1177. PubMed ID: 28027593.
    Abstract:
    This study aimed to evaluate the behavior of sheep fed babassu cake as a substitution for elephant grass silage. The experiment was conducted at the Federal Rural University of Amazonia (Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia - UFRA), Brazil, using 45 sheep housed in individual stalls, with unlimited access to feed and distributed in a completely randomized design with five treatments (0, 12.5, 25, 37.5 and 50% inclusion of babassu cake) and nine replications. All of the treatments contained a roughage-to-concentrate ratio of 40:60. No differences were observed in the time spent feeding (P > 0.05), regardless of the source of roughage used. However, there was a reduction in the time spent in rumination (P < 0.05) and an increase in time spent idling (P < 0.05) when babassu cake was included in the diet. Although there was a reduction in the time spent chewing the ruminal bolus (P < 0.05), the total daily chewing time was the same for all animals (P > 0.05). However, the sheep fed babassu cake showed higher feeding and rumination efficiency (P < 0.05). Therefore, the substitution of elephant grass silage with babassu cake can be performed at up to 50% without compromising the total time spent eating and chewing, which allows increased feeding and rumination efficiency.
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