Correlations of intake, digestibility and performance with the ingestive behavior of lambs fed diets containing ammoniated buffel grass hay

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the correlations of intake, digestibility and performance with the ingestive behavior of lambs fed diets containing ammoniated buffel grass hay. Buffel grass hay was treated with four levels of urea (0, 18, 36 and 54 g/kg DM basis) and eight repetitions. Thirty-two sheep with no defined breed and an average body weight of 17.7 ± 1.8 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design. It was observed positive correlations were found between the feeding time and the intake of dry matter (r = 0.3120), organic matter (r = 0.3242), neutral detergent fiber (r = 0.3800), total carbohydrates (r = 0.3343) and total digestible nutrients (r = 0.3233). Positive correlations (P < 0.05) were found among the rumination efficiencies, g of DM/h and g of NDF/h with nutrient intake variables, except for ether extract intake. Positive correlations were observed (P < 0.05) between both total weight gain (TWG) and average daily gain (ADG) and the rumination efficiency, g of DM/h (r = 0.3330) and g of NDF/h (r = 0.3304). The feeding and rumination efficiencies have a positive relationship with the total digestible nutrients. The correlation among intake, digestibility and performance variables with the ingestive behavior, it was important for the understanding of diet containing ammoniated buffel grass hay, in which the positive correlation of rumination efficiency with intake and weight gain explained the favorable effect on productive performance of feedlot sheep.