Comportamento ingestivo, mastigação merística e eficiência de ruminação de ovinos suplementados com sal forrageiro de faveleira (Cnidoscolus quercifolius)

Abstract

The brazilian Northeast in general has low rainfall, mainly in the semiarid area where farmers are searching for alternatives to supply the feed shortages of the herds during dry season. However, in these areas, there is a great diversity of endemic plants that are resistant to adverse environmental conditions and high forage value. Among the native plants of the Brazilian semiarid region, a very common is faveleira (Cnidoscolus quercifolius). It is a plant of the family Euphorbiaceae, endemic in Brazil, very resistant to drought and highly consumed by sheep and goats, especially in the dry season. The animals receive supplementation with forage salt faveleira with increasing levels of NaCl in the formulation. Were used 25 male sheep, not castrated, weighing 40 kg, allocated in individual stalls of 1m², containing one drinker, a feeder for hay and another for faveleira fodder salt in a completely randomized design with five treatments and five repplications. Fodder salts were formulated with 1, 3, 5 and 7% NaCl in composition, and were offered at will. Fodder salts were formulated with 1, 3, 5 and 7% NaCl in the composition and were offered at will. All treatments had received Tifton 85 (Cynodon sp) hay and water ad libitum. This study aimed to evaluate the feeding behavior, meristic chewing, rumination and feeding efficiency, total chewing time, distribution of time spent for the activities of feeding behavior, periods of rumination, feed and idle, consumption of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and different time scales to determine the best range in the feeding behavior of the study sheep supplemented with fodder salt faveleira. The feeding activities, idle and rumination were not influenced (P> 0.05) by supplementation with fodder salt, and did not influence the meristic chewing, the numbers of ruminal bolus, the chewing time for ruminal boluses, the total chewing time and dry matter intake. Were affected by supplementation with fodder salt, the intake of NDF and rumination efficiency of FDN. For the time scale choose the maximum limit of 20 minutes between the observations of feeding behavior of sheep must be respected.