Potential use of vitiviniculture waste in mixed cactus pear silages with elephant grass in lamb diet

The aim was to evaluate intake, digestibility, water balance, nitrogen balance, ingestive behavior, performance, and carcass traits of lambs on diets containing levels of vitiviniculture waste in mixed cactus pear silages with elephant grass. Twenty-four crossbred male lambs (150 days of age, 20.75 kg +/- 1.33 kg body weight) were assigned to a randomized block design, with four treatments (diets) and six animals per treatment. The experimental diets consisted of four elephant grass mixed silages (MS), containing different levels of cactus pear and vitiviniculture waste: MS1 - 255 g/kg cactus pear and 108 g/kg vitiviniculture waste; MS2 - 216 g/kg cactus pear and 144 g/kg vitiviniculture waste; MS3 - 180 g/kg cactus pear and 180 g/kg vitiviniculture waste; MS4 - 144 g/kg cactus pear and 216 g/kg vitiviniculture waste, on a dry matter basis (DM). The experiment lasted 86 days, preceded by 20 days of adaptation. The inclusion of vitiviniculture waste in silages resulted in a quadratic effect for intakes of crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and total carbohydrates, digestibility of DM and ether extract, metabolizable water, and water balance (P < 0.05), with the highest values of intake and digestibility observed in lambs fed on MS2. The MS in diets resulted in a reduction in the carcass conformation of the lambs (P = 0.034). Under the experimental conditions, the use of up to 144 g/kg vitiviniculture waste in the composition of mixed cactus pear and elephant grass silages (MS2) in diets for confined lamb as it provides greater nutrient intake and dry matter digestibility.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effects of diets containing vitiviniculture waste on intake, digestibility, water balance, nitrogen balance, ingestive behavior, performance, and carcass traits of lambs. The results showed that feeding lambs with diets containing 216 g/kg cactus pear and 144 g/kg vitiviniculture waste resulted in higher intake and digestibility.