The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the replacement of four levels of a soybean meal by detoxified castor meal in rations fed to seven month-old 1/2 Morada Nova x 1/2 WDB (without defined breed) crossbred lambs, average 18 kg BW, on their ingestive behavior. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replicates. Continuous (feeding time, rumination, other activities and idleness) and punctual (salt consumption, water ingestion, urination and defecation) activities, as well as eating efficiency, rumination efficiency, eating time, rumination time, total chewing time, number of ruminal bolus, time of jaw movements per ruminal bolus and number of jaw movements per ruminal bolus were evaluated. The variables feeding time, rumination, other activities, idleness, salt consumption and water ingestion were influenced (P<0.05) by the replacement, especially the number of jaw movements per ruminal bolus, which was lower for animals fed diets with 100% replacement, possibly due to its lower fiber content. The results showed that it is possible the total replacement of the soybean meal by detoxified castor meal.
Consumption; co-products of biodiesel production; jaw movements; eating time; rumination time
