Total replacement of corn by popcorn residue on intake, digestibility and ingestive behavior of lambs
International Journal of Development Research
Total replacement of corn by popcorn residue on intake, digestibility and ingestive behavior of lambs
Received 22nd August, 2020; Received in revised form 27th September, 2020; Accepted 19th October, 2020; Published online 30th November, 2020
Copyright © 2020, Evaristo Jorge Oliveira de Souza et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
It was aimed to assess the effect of substitution of corn by popcorn residue on intake, digestibility and ingestive behavior of lambs. Four male, non-castrated Morada Nova lambs were utilized, with a mean body weight of 28 kg. Treatments consisted of different levels of substitution of corn by popcorn residue: 0, 333, 666 and 1000 g/kg of dry matter. The intake of dry matter and nutrients was obtained from the amount of feed offered and orts. Behavioral pattern measurements were carried out through the scan sampling method during 12 hours over two consecutive days. It was verified the number of times that animals sought water and urinated and the number of times that animals defecated. The experimental design used was a 4x4 Latin square. There were no significant differences in intake and nutrient digestibility, eating time, ruminating time, idling time, eating efficiency, rumination efficiency, physiological variables, and water intake. The popcorn residue can fully replace corn in the diet of confined ram lambs without altering intake, nutrient digestibility, or ingestive behavior.
