Intake and digestibility of flor-de-seda hay in diets for dairy goats

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Calotropis procera hay in the diet of dairy goats at different levels (0, 9, 18, 27 and 36%), on intake and digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), non-fibrous carbohydrate (NFC), total carbohydrates (TC), and water consumption. Five multiparous goats of were used, weighing 42 ± 0.59 kg BW, in a 5 x 5 latin square design. Animals were fed twice meals daily, after milking, at 6 and 16 hours. A surplus of 20% was offered in relation to the previous day. The inclusion of Calotropis procera hay had a quadratic effect on the consumption of almost all nutrients, except for NFC and water. The highest DM intake was 1.66 kg/day, 3.95% of BW, or 100.66 g/kg0,75 when 22% of Calotropis procera hay was included in the diet. The average water consumption was 7.07 kilograms. There was an improvement in nutrient digestibility, although not significant. Under the conditions of this research, it was concluded that the addition of Calotropis procera hay in dairy goat diets may be beneficial up to 0.397 kg per day by increasing intake and nutrient digestibility.