Morfometria da mucosa ruminal, intestinal e desempenho de cordeiros alimentados com diferentes níveis de torta de girassol

Abstract

The work was carried out with the objective of determining the best level of inclusion of sunflower cake in the concentrate based on the evaluation of ruminal and intestinal mucosa morphometry and performance of lambs fed with sunflower cake (TG). The study was developed at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences/UFGD, city of DouradosMS. Twenty-eight crossbred Suffolk male lambs were used, with an average weight of 21 kg and four months of age, distributed in a randomized block design with four diets and seven replications. The tested diets were formed from a basic diet (control treatment - T1) where the sources of protein and energy came from corn and soybean meal. In the other treatments, sunflower cake was included at levels of 10%(T2), 20%(T3) and 30%(T4) to replace part of the corn and soybean components of the basic diet so that the 4 treatments were isoproteic, with 17% protein. The animals were kept for an average period of 60 to 160 days, in a confinement regime, where the first 30 days were for adaptation to the diets. The morphological variables evaluated were: length, mean width of the rumen papillae, area, papillary density and thickness of the rumen muscularis, rumen and abomasum pH, and the performance variables were: dry matter intake, final body weight, confinement period , average daily gain, hot and cold carcass weight. Statistical analysis showed that dry matter intake (DMF), final weight (PF), average daily gain (DMG), hot (PCQ) and cold (PCF) carcass weight, average width of the ruminal papillae of the ventral sac and development of intestinal crypts showed decreasing linear effects, being observed that as the inclusion of sunflower cake in the diets was increased, there was a decrease in the variables mentioned above. On the other hand, the confinement period (CP) and rumen pH variables had increasing linear effects as the inclusion of sunflower cake in the diets increased. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that increasing the content of sunflower cake in replacement of corn and soybean meal in the diet compromises the consumption and performance of sheep and that the lower content of sunflower cake can result in a greater absorptive surface.