Sugar cane bagasse as roughage in sheep diet

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different proportions of concentrate and sugar cane bagasse as roughage exclusive for sheep. The dry matter intake, organic matter, crude protein, non-fibrous carbohydrates and total digestible nutrients in kg/day, increased linearly with increasing proportion of concentrate in the diet. The same behavior was observed for dry matter digestibility. It occurred in a manner contrary to the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber that decreased with the higher levels of concentrate. With the increase of the proportion of concentrate in the diets, quadratic effect was observed to time of rumination, feeding and idleness, and the of concentrations of acetic, propionic and butyric acid in the rumen. Higher proportions of concentrate associated with sugar cane bagasse in nature can be used in diets.