Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 8;56(4):153.
doi: 10.1007/s11250-024-03988-y.

Effects of refused melon fruit in Canarana grass ensilage on intake, digestibility, serum biochemistry, performance, carcass characteristics and meat attributes of feedlot lambs

Salenilda Soares Firmino  1 , Patrícia de Oliveira Lima  1 , Palloma Vitória Carlos de Oliveira  1 , Joice Texeira Souza  1 , Thiago Luís Alves Campos de Araújo  1 , Marília Williani Filgueira Pereira  1 , Michelly Fernandes de Macedo  1 , Hélia Maria de Souza Leite  1 , Valdeir Mario Silva Veríssimo  1 , Flávia Chrisfany da Silva Pimentel  1 , Dorgival Morais de Lima Júnior  2
Affiliations

Effects of refused melon fruit in Canarana grass ensilage on intake, digestibility, serum biochemistry, performance, carcass characteristics and meat attributes of feedlot lambs

Salenilda Soares Firmino et al. Trop Anim Health Prod. .

Abstract

Ensilage of refused fruit with forage is a viable approach to increase resource use in ruminant feed. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of ensiling refused melon fruit (RMF) with Canarana grass on the intake, apparent digestibility, serum biochemistry, performance, carcass traits, and meat attributes of feedlot lambs. Four distinct silage treatment types were prepared by ensiling RMF at 0 g/kg (control), 70 g/kg, 140 g/kg, and 210 g/kg (as fed) with Canarana grass. Twenty-eight male Santa Inês lambs (7 lambs per treatment), initially weighing 22.3 ± 1.0 kg at 120 days of age, were distributed in a completely randomized design and confined for a total of 96 days, including a 23-day adaptation period and 73 experimental days in a feedlot. The lambs received the treatment-silage in diets as a complete mixture with a roughage: concentrate ratio of 30:70. The inclusion of RMF in Canarana grass ensilage decreased (P < 0.05) the lambs' intake of dry matter, crude protein and metabolisable energy. The inclusion of RMF in ensilage had a quadratic effect (P < 0.05) on the digestibility of non-fibrous carbohydrates. The serum total protein and cholesterol levels decreased (P < 0.05) with the inclusion of RMF in the ensilage, but we observed no effect on the final weight and average daily gain of the lambs. The feed efficiency increased (P < 0.05) by including RMF in the Canarana grass ensilage. The RMF in the ensilage did not influence cold carcass weight and yield. The fat content of the meat decreased (P < 0.05) with the inclusion of RMF in the ensilage. It is recommended the inclusion of up to 210 g/kg of RMF in Canarana grass ensilage to increase feed efficiency and avoid impacts on the performance and carcass attributes of confined lambs.

Keywords: Cucumis melo; Echinochloa pyramidalis; Agricultural residue; Grass silage; Silage byproduct.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aemiro, A., Watanabe, S., Suzuki, K., Hanada, M., Umetsu, K., Nishida, T., 2019. Effect of substituting soybean meal with euglena (Euglena gracilis) on methane emission and nitrogen efficiency in sheep. Anim Sci J 90, 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/asj.13121 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Allen, M.S., 2020. Review: Control of feed intake by hepatic oxidation in ruminant animals: integration of homeostasis and homeorhesis. Animal 14, s55–s64. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731119003215 - DOI - PubMed
    1. AOAC, 2016. Official Methods of Analysis, 20th ed. Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, Washington, DC.
    1. Barros e Silva, T.M., Garcia Leal de Araújo, G., Vinhas Voltolini, T., Ávila Queiroz, M.A., Yamamoto, S.M., Nunes Lista, F., Costa Gois, G., Alves de Moraes, S., Sena Campos, F., Da Rocha Santos, M.C., 2022. Desempeño productivo de ovinos alimentados con ensilaje de pasto buffel en sustitución de ensilaje de maíz. Rev Mex Cienc Pecu 13, 408–421. https://doi.org/10.22319/rmcp.v13i2.5381 - DOI
    1. Bautista-Díaz, E., Mezo-Solis, J.A., Herrera-Camacho, J., Cruz-Hernández, A., Gomez-Vazquez, A., Tedeschi, L.O., Lee-Rangel, H.A., Vargas-Bello-Pérez, E., Chay-Canul, A.J., 2020. Prediction of Carcass Traits of Hair Sheep Lambs Using Body Measurements. Animals 10, 1276. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10081276 - DOI - PubMed - PMC

LinkOut - more resources