Evaluation of performance and nutrient intake of lambs fed sugarcane hydrolyzed under different conditions

Resumo

Twenty-four Ile de France lambs, born in the same period, were used to evaluate performance and nutrient intake throughout the feedlot period (starting with 15 ± 0.221 until 32 ± 0.265 kg of body weight). Treatments were: IN (in natura sugarcane + concentrate), AER (sugarcane hydrolyzed using 0.6% calcium oxide (CaO) under aerobic condition + concentrate) and ANA (sugarcane hydrolyzed using 0.6% CaO under anaerobic condition + concentrate). The experimental design was completely randomized with eight replicates per treatment. Lambs were housed in individual pens and fed diet allowing 10% refusals. Lambs were weighed weekly to obtain the average daily weight gain and feed conversion. Nutrient intake was computed based on the amount of nutrients fed to the animals and the amount of nutrients of the refusals. Means were tested by Tukey HSD range test (P < 0.05). No difference was observed between treatments for performance, in which average daily weight gain was 0.241 kg and feed conversion was 3.99. Lambs fed sugarcane hydrolyzed under anaerobic condition had the highest mineral matter intake (69.97 g day-1) compared to other treatments. No differences for the other nutrient intakes were observed. Sugarcane hydrolyzed under aerobic and anaerobic conditions do not affect the performance neither the nutrient intake of the animals. The choice between supplying in natura or hydrolyzed sugarcane will depend on an economic analysis.