Feeding behaviour and growth performance of cattle supplemented with different levels of Babasu palm (Orbignya phalerata) silage

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of replacing corn silage by Babasu silage (BS) in confined cattle. Castrated Nelore males (n=25) were used, with initial live weight of 256±2.0 kg. Animals were given concentrate (1% of live weight), and assigned to five treatments, where corn silage was either provided ad libitum (treatment B0), or replaced at 25, 50, 75 and 100% by BS (treatments B25, B50, B75 and B100, respectively). The cattle were kept in individual pens, feeding behaviour and growth performance was measured. Feed consumption (kg/MS) declined linearly as the proportion of BS in the diet increased, with a reduction of about 0.4 to 0.86 kg in the ingestion of feed/d per 25% increase in BS, such that the mean feed intake/d was 5.54 kg in B0 and 3.27 kg in B100. Average daily gain was similar in B0 and B25 (about 1.1 kg) but dropped afterwards as BS increased in the diet, to reach a mean value of 0.2 kg in B100. Animals in B100 had higher resting time (6.68 h) but lower rumination time (2.54 vs. 3.28 to 3.65 h). Time spent ingesting feed was higher in B0 and B100 (2.56 and 2.60 h, respectively) than in the other treatments (3.03 to 3.15 h). Overall, the inclusion of BS as a substitute of corn silage at a level above 25% of the roughage intake caused a decline in feed intake and growth rate and changed the feeding behaviour of cattle, with an increase in resting time and a reduction in time spent in rumination.