Abstract
ABSTRACT Coconut meal can be an affordable low-cost alternative to noble ingredients such as corn and soybean meal in sheep diets. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of coconut meal inclusions, when used as a corn and soybean meal replacement, on the intake, digestibility, and nitrogen balance of sheep diets. Twenty-four male Santa Inês lambs with body weights (BW) of 26.6 ± 3.2 kg were used in the study. The animals were housed in metabolic cages and distributed in a completely randomized block design, with three treatments and eight replications. The animals received a total mixed ratio of 30% roughage (elephant grass) and 70% concentrate. The animals were fed on two experimental diets with 11% and 22% coconut meal inclusion and a control diet (without coconut meal). Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and non-fibrous carbohydrate (NFC) intake as a percentage of BW were negatively influenced by the inclusion of coconut meal. The ether extract (EE) intake increased but did not differ between the 11% and 22% coconut meal diets. Furthermore, the digestibility of DM, CP, EE, and ADF did not differ between the two evaluated diets. The inclusion of coconut meal reduced NDF digestibility and increased that of NFC. The level of inclusion of coconut meal in the diet must be based on the EE content in the meal; keeping the EE intake below 0.16% of the BW helped to avoid limited intake of feed.
Highlights
Sheep meat has the fourth highest consumption rate worldwide after pork, poultry, and beef (FURNOLS; GUERRERO, 2014)
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacing corn and soybean meal in sheep diets with coconut meal on feed intake, apparent digestibility of nutrients, and the nitrogen balance of the animal
When observing the consumption of each animal in kg/animal/day, the consumption of Dry matter (DM) and OM was similar between the contro(l1)diets and the 11% inclusion of coconut meal; it was significantly higher (P < 0.00(20)1) than that in the 22% diet
Summary
Sheep meat has the fourth highest consumption rate worldwide after pork, poultry, and beef (FURNOLS; GUERRERO, 2014). Despite the expansion of sheep farming in Brazil in previous years, sheep producers still face many technical difficulties in the production of competitive and affordable lamb meat (RANIERI; NUNES; GAMEIRO, 2015). For this reason, sheep production is still considered a secondary or subsistence activity in many regions of the country, but most predominantly in the north and northeast (HERMUCHE et al, 2013). The pressure to increase the volume and efficiency of lamb/sheep meat production in the coming years will be much greater for the survival of the chain Given this scenario, finishing lambs that are raised in feedlots can prove to be promising specimens of the production potential of these animals (LIMA et al, 2017). The duration of the animal's stay in the feedlot and the choice of concentrates used in the diet are fundamental to the cost of production (SANTOS et al, 2014)
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