Abstract

NUNES, A.S. et al. Intake, digestibility and blood parameters of lambs fed diets with palm kernel. Arch. zootec. [online]. 2011, vol.60, n.232, pp.903-912. ISSN 1885-4494.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S0004-05922011000400007.

This study was conducted in order to verify the best level of palm kernel for sheep diet by intake, nutrient digestibility and blood parameters in terminated feedlot lambs. Twenty non-castrated Santa Inês lambs were fed diets with corn meal, soybean meal, Tifton 85 hay and palm kernel levels (0.0; 6.5; 13.00 and 19.5% in dry matter), as total mixed ration. The experiment lasted 24 days. For three consecutive days, feed, orts and faeces were sampled for determination of intake and nutrient digestibility. At the last day, blood was collected for plasma urea nitrogen and glucose. Dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and total digestive nutrients (TDN) expressed by g/day, body weight percentage (%BW) and grams per kg of metabolic weight (g/kg MW) intake were not influenced by palm kernel inclusion, while neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and ether extract (EE) increased with palm kernel levels and non-fibrous carbohydrate decreased. Digestibility coefficient of noncarbohydrate decreased as levels of palm kernel increased. Blood urea nitrogen and glucose levels were not influenced by the diets, however, diets promoted quadratic effect at post feeding. Up to 19.5% of palm kernel can be included in diets for lambs, with no effects on studied variables.

Keywords : Byproduct; Nutrient; Ruminant; Sheep.

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