Ewe performance in the post-weaning phase and structural characteristics of <i>Brachiaria brizantha</i> cultivars in the dry season

Silva, Alex Álvares da; Difante, Gelson dos Santos; Emerenciano Neto, João Virgínio; Gurgel, Antonio Leandro Chaves; Fernandes, Leonardo Santana; Campos, Nathalia Rafaela Fidelis; Carvalho Netto, Roldão Teixeira de; Santana, Juliana Caroline Santos

doi:10.4025/actascianimsci.v43i1.52805

ABSTRACT.

The objective of this study was to examine the performance of ewes in the post-weaning phase and the structural characteristics of Brachiaria brizantha cultivars in the dry season. The treatments were represented by four Brachiaria brizantha cultivars (Piatã, Marandu, Paiaguás, and Xaraés), which were evaluated in a randomized-block design with two replicates for the forage variables and eight replicates for the animal performance variables. Canopy height, masses of forage and morphological components and chemical composition of morphological components were evaluated. Thirty-two ½ Santa Inês and ½ Dorper sheep with an initial body weight (BW) of 22.7 ± 1.2 kg were used. Average daily gain (ADG - kg animal^-1 day^-1), stocking rate (in animal units [AU] = 30 kg of body weight) and weight gain per area (kg ha^-1 day^-1) were measured. There was no cultivar effect (p > 0.05) on the structural characteristics of the pasture. The highest crude protein content in the leaf blade (11.8%) were found in cultivar Marandu. Average daily gain was higher in the animals that grazed on cultivar Marandu (0.08 kg animal^-1 day^-1) as compared with cultivars Xaraés (0.05 kg animal^-1 day^-1) and Piatã (0.04 kg animal^-1 day^-1), whereas the ewes that grazed on cultivar Paiaguás showed intermediate ADG values (0.06 kg animal^-1 day^-1). There was no difference between the cultivars for stocking rate (9.2 AU). Weight gain per area was highest in cultivar Marandu (0.33 kg ha^-1 day^-1) and lowest in cv. Piatã (0.16 kg ha^-1 day^-1). Brachiaria brizantha cultivars Piatã, Marandu, Paiaguás and Xaraés proved to be forage options for the post-weaning phase of ewes supplemented with concentrate in the dry season.

Keywords:
agronomic traits; Marandu; Paiaguás; Piatã; sheep farming; Xaraés

[1] *Author for correspondence. E-mail: antonioleandro09@gmail.com

Layer (cm)	P	K	Na	pH	Ca	Mg	Al	H + Al	BS (%)
Layer (cm)	mg dm^-³				cmol_c dm^-³				BS (%)
0-20	2.0	41.0	9.0	6.6	1.1	0.2	0.0	1.1	56.6
20-40	1.0	22.0	9.0	6.3	0.5	0.1	0.0	0.6	53.4

Variable	October	November	December	SEM	P-value
Canopy height (cm)	44.2^a	43.8^a	42.5^a	3.1	0.9174
Forage mass (kg ha^-1 DM)	2348.7^a	2245.8^a	1963.2^a	193.0	0.3763
Leaf mass (kg ha^-1 DM)	581.8^a	176.2^b	73.6^b	44.7	0.0001
Stem mass (kg ha^-1 DM)	567.5^a	225.1^b	317.3^b	43.4	0.0005
Dead material mass (kg ha^-1 DM)	1190.2^a	1844.4^a	1578.0^a	185.5	0.0831
Leaf:stem ratio	1.1^a	0.7^b	0.4^b	0.1	0.0010

Variable (%)	Marandu	Piatã	Paiaguás	Xaraés	SEM	P-value
	----------------Leaf----------------
Crude protein	11.8^a	6.5^c	9.0^b	6.3^c	0.4	0.0013
Neutral detergent fiber	57.5^a	61.4^a	59.2^a	55.3^a	2.1	0.3529
Acid detergent fiber	28.4^b	29.9^ab	32.2^a	29.0^b	0.5	0.0171
Acid detergent lignin	1.5^a	2.2^a	2.0^a	1.5^a	0.3	0.4271
	----------------Stem----------------
Crude protein	2.2^a	2.4^a	2.6^a	2.2^a	0.2	0.4148
Neutral detergent fiber	63.6^a	68.9^a	68.2^a	62.4^a	1.3	0.0560
Acid detergent fiber	40.8^b	45.7^ab	46.1^a	42.1^ab	0.9	0.0307
Acid detergent lignin	5.2^a	6.1^a	7.3^a	7.1^a	0.8	0.3180
	----------------Dead material----------------
Crude protein	1.7^a	1.9^a	1.9^a	1.2^a	0.2	0.1017
Neutral detergent fiber	64.5^b	70.0^a	68.1^ab	69.8^a	0.7	0.0117
Acid detergent fiber	41.4^b	46.9^a	46.5^a	47.1^a	0.6	0.0075
Acid detergent lignin	4.5^c	5.7^b	6.8^a	5.8^b	0.7	0.0013

Variable	Marandu	Piatã	Xaraés	Paiaguás	SEM	P-value
ADG (kg animal^-1 day^-1)	0.08^a	0.04^b	0.05^b	0.06^ab	0.1	0.0096
Final weight (kg)	27.4^a	25.2^a	25.4^a	27.0^a	1.4	0.6060
Stocking rate (AU ha^-1)	9.5^a	9.0^a	9.0^a	9.4^a	0.8	0.9675
Gain per area (kg ha^-1 day^-1)	0.32^a	0.16^b	0.20^ab	0.24^ab	0.1	0.0062

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Ewe performance in the post-weaning phase and structural characteristics of Brachiaria brizantha cultivars in the dry season

ABSTRACT.