DESEMPENHO DE NOVILHAS ALIMENTADAS COM CO-PRODUTOS DA INDÚSTRIA DO MILHO OU DO ÁCIDO CÍTRICO

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate performance of crossbred dairy heifers fed diets with wet byproducts form industry of corn or citric acid. Forty heifers weighing on average 240 kg were randomly assigned to four treatments receiving control diet or diets containing: precoat , micélio or rafinate . There were no difference in initial and final body weight, total weight gain and average daily weight gain of heifers (P> 0.05). The ADWG was 1.19, 1.26, 1.18 and 1.27 kg/day for heifers of control, mycelium, precoat and rafinate treatments, respectively. The dry matter intake, in % of body weight, of the animals in control group, mycelium, precoat and rafinate was, respectively, 3.17, 3.55, 3.36 and 3.22%. The inclusion of the wet byproducts mycelium, precoat and rafinate in the diet of crossbred dairy heifers at 5.5, 3.4 and 4.8% of fresh matter, respectively, provides satisfactory performance of the animals. However, more studies are needed to determine the economic feasibility of using these byproducts in ruminant feed.

Keywords

• Weight gain
• Mycelium
• Precoat
• Rafinate
• Ruminants