Abstract
To assess the intake, digestibility of nutrients, ingestive behavior, performance, and carcass characteristics of feedlot lambs, 36 F1 Santa Ines × Dorper male lambs with an initial average weight of 19.5 ± 0.27kg were fed with different levels of spineless cactus (0, 33, 66, and 100%) as a replacement of the wheat bran. The replacement diets had no effect on the intake of dry matter (DM) or crude protein (CP), whose average values were 962 and 140g/day, respectively. There was a quadratic effect on the intake of digestible organic matter (OM) and the digestibility of DM, CP, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC). The highest average daily gain (ADG) of 168g/day was achieved at 58.7% replacement level. The highest hot and cold carcass weights of 15.4 and 14.5kg were achieved at 62.4 and 56.9% replacement levels. For lambs in the feedlot, we recommend replacing wheat bran with up to 58.7% spineless cactus.
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