Three wethers averaging 50 kg LW, fitted with four catheters, in the mesenteric vein, mesenteric artery, portal vein and hepatic vein, were used to evaluate nutrient intake and glucose, alpha-amino nitrogen, ammonia and urea splanchnic fluxes in sheep fed with different protein sources. Statistical design was a 3x3 Latin square. Treatments consisted of three different protein sources utilization: soybean meal, hydrolyzed feather meal and corn gluten meal. There were no treatment effects over intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Portal, hepatic and arterial concentrations for glucose, alpha-amino nitrogen, ammonia and urea were not affected by different protein sources. Only glucose portal flux increased and alpha-amino nitrogen flux decreased when corn gluten meal as protein source was used. Nutrient hepatic extraction rate were -10.51, 4.07, 47.69 and -4.81% for glucose, alpha-amino nitrogen, ammonia and urea, respectively, and there was no difference among treatments.
corn gluten meal; hydrolysed feather meal; intake; nutrient porta-hepatic flux; whethers
