It was evaluated the inclusion of rough wheat bran at 0.0; 8.9; 19.8 and 31.7% levels replacing corn in goat diets. Twenty-four crossbred non-castrated male goats averaging 20 kg body weight were used. They were allocated in individual cages as a complete randomized design with four treatments and six replicates during for 74 days. The digestibility coefficients were obtained through total collection of feces. The inclusion of rough wheat bran had a quadratic effect on the intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrient (TDN). The intake of fiber in neutral detergent (NDF) increased and nonfiber carbohydrates (NFC) decreased with the addition of rough wheat bran. Replacing corn by the rough wheat bran did not affect the ether extract (EE) and total carbohydrates intake but it had a decreasing linear effect in the digestibility coefficients of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), total carbohydrates and nonfiber carbohydrates despite of not affecting crude protein, ether extract and fiber in neutral detergent. Weight gain and food conversion were not affected by the inclusion of rough wheat bran in the diet. Rough wheat bran can be included in levels up to 14% in the diet of growing goats, since the percentage of NDF is not higher than 48% of the dry matter in the diet.
feed conversion; weight gain; wheat by-products
