Intake and digestibility of sheep fed grains and by-products of canola

Abstract

The effect of feeding 8% of grains and byproducts (meal or cake) of canola on intake and digestibility was evaluated. Six non castrated Santa Ines sheep (from 210 to 240 days old and body weight of 44.8 + 4.2kg) were fed diets composed by 40% of Tifton hay and 60% of concentrate based on corn grain, soybean meal, whole grain canola, canola meal, canola cake and mineral mixture. No differences on the intakes of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), gross energy (GE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total carbohydrates (TC) and non fiber carbohydrate (NFC) were observed among treatments, in the digestibility trial. No treatment effect on the digestibilities of DM, OM, EE, CP, GE, NDF, TC and NFC was observed. It is recommended to include up to 8% of grains and byproducts (meal or cake) of canola in the sheep diet.