Feeding behavior of feedlot lambs fed diets with different energy and protein sources

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production Vol. 53; no. 1; p. 158
• Main Authors: Brant, Lara Maria Santos, de Carvalho, G. G. P., Júnior, J. E. Freitas, Pereira, F. M., Pina, D. S., Santos, S. A., Silva, S. N. S., Alba, H. D. R., Cirne, L. G. A., Araujo, M. L. G. M. L., Leite, L. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 10-02-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Feed - analysis; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body weight; Chewing; Corn; Cottonseed Oil; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Fiber; Digestion; Dry matter; Energy; Energy sources; Feeding; Feeding Behavior; Feedlots; Life Sciences; Mastication; Protein sources; Proteins; Regular Articles; Rumination; Sheep; Soybeans; Vegetables; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Zoology; Cottonseed cake; Ethology; Co-products; Crude glycerin; Biodiesel
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-020-02522-0

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the replacement of ground corn by crude glycerin and soybean meal by cottonseed cake, in association or not, on feedlot lambs’ feeding behavior. Thirty-two non-castrated crossbred ½ Dorper ½ Santa Inês lambs, with an average body weight of 18.52 ± 3.24 kg (mean ± standard deviation), were distributed in a completely randomized design, into four treatments and eight replicates per treatment, in a 2 × 2 factorial scheme. Four experimental diets were tested with different sources or combinations of energy and protein ingredients in the concentrate, respectively: (1) ground corn + soybean meal; (2) ground corn and cottonseed cake; (3) crude glycerin and soybean meal; and (4) crude glycerin and cottonseed cake. The glycerin decreased dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (
P
 < 0.001) intakes, whereas it increased times spent in feeding (
P
 = 0.009; from 21.8 to 28.6), rumination (
P
 = 0.006; from 56.2 to 67.2), and chewing (
P
 < 0.001; from 79.4 to 97.2), in minutes/100 g of DM. Feeding efficiencies of DM (
P
 = 0.003) and NDF (
P
 = 0.008) were decreased by the diets. Protein sources increased (
P
 = 0.018) the times spent in chewing and per period in rumination (
P
 = 0.014). Cottonseed cake, as a protein source, up to a 112 g/kg DM level, can totally replace soybean meal in diets for feedlot lambs without effects on the intake, behavioral activities, and feeding efficiencies. In contrast, the crude glycerin energy source is not adequate to replace ground corn in lambs’ diets.