Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of forage cactus with different fiber sources (elephant grass hay - EGH; corn straw - CS, hay of cassava shoots - HCS; fresh sugarcane bagasse - FSB; and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse - HSB) on the milk yield and composition and the feeding behavior of lactating Sindhi cows. Five cows with average body weight, average daily milk yield, and average daily 4%-fat-corrected milk yield of 265, 4.95 and 5.22 kg, respectively, were used in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The effect of experimental diets on milk yield and composition, feeding time (FT), rumination time (RT), idle time, mean values of total chewing time (TCT), number of ruminal boli (NRB), number of rumination chews (NRC), and feed efficiency (FE) and rumination efficiency (RE) expressed as a function of DM and NDF were analyzed. Milk yield in kg/day and corrected to 4.0% fat from the animals that received cactus associated with CS were higher as compared with the treatment with hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse. The milk composition variables were not influenced by the treatments, and nor were FT, RT, TCT, NRB and NC. Two patterns were observed for FE and RE, with higher efficiency of the diets with EGH, CS and HCS and lower efficiency for diets containing sugarcane bagasse. In this context, Sindhi cows fed forage cactus associated with corn straw, elephant grass hay, and hay of cassava shoots present better performance, feeding efficiency, and rumination responses than those fed forage cactus associated with fresh sugarcane bagasse and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse.
Highlights
In the Northeast, milk production has been based on the use of native and cultivated pastures, with important participation of forage cactus
The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of forage cactus with different fiber sources on the milk yield and composition and the feeding behavior of lactating Sindhi cows
Animals that received forage associated with corn straw had higher (P0.05) from the animals fed forage diets associated with EGH, HCS or FSB
Summary
In the Northeast, milk production has been based on the use of native and cultivated pastures, with important participation of forage cactus Dyck.), especially in the driest period of the year (Moreira et al, 2006). One of the main attributes of forage cactus is its high content of water, and it can be very beneficial in droughtprone areas. The forage has a low content of crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) and a high content of non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC). According to Ferreira (2005), this aspect should be taken into account when forage is used in ruminant feeding; its indiscriminate use has caused several problems, such as diarrhea, drop in milk-fat, low dry matter intake and weight loss
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