Title: Growth performance of hair sheep at pasture, supplemented with tropical legume (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth) rich in condensed tannins
Abstract:Sansao do campo (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth), a tropical legume with origin in the semi-arid region of Brazil containing approximately 12% condensed t annin (CT), was used to evaluate its effect on...Sansao do campo (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth), a tropical legume with origin in the semi-arid region of Brazil containing approximately 12% condensed t annin (CT), was used to evaluate its effect on the performance of hair sheep at pasture. Eighteen lambs, with liveweight of 16.9 ± 1.87 kg, were divided in three treatments: control (C) (68% corn + 32% soybean meal), sansao do campo (S) (60% sansao do campo + 30% corn + 10% soybean meal) and sansao do campo with polyethylene-glycol 4000 (S+PEG) (S + 10 g PEG/animal/day). All sheep were kept together on a 1 hectare of Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. Tanzânia pasture. Each individual animal received 200 g/day of t he supplement. CT content did not exceed 3% of dry matter (DM) in the diet. Pasture was collected and animals weighed fortnightly. Feed was analysed for DM, crude protein, neutral-detergent fiber, acid-detergent fiber, ether extract and ash. Concentrate analyses for group C (879, 214, 289, 49, 15 and 16 g/kg DM respectively) and S (876, 210, 532, 189, 24 and 15 g/kg DM respectively) as well as for forage (283, 89, 658, 388, 27 and 48 g/kg DM respectively) were available. After 105 days, group C lambs showed higher (P 0.05). The best performance in the control group was due to the higher available energy level in this supplement. Although the CT in the sansao do campo had little effect on the performance of the sheep, further research would be necessary to know its effect over long periods of supplementation.Read More
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 3
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