| This experiment was carried to evaluate the effect of forage cactus with different fiber sources (elephant grass hay [EGH], corn straw [CS], hay of cassava shoots [HCS], fresh sugarcane bagasse [FSB], and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse [HSB]) on intake, apparent digestibility and macrobiotic protein production of cows. Five cows with 265 kg average body weight, 4.95 kg average daily milk yield and 5.22 kg 4% fat-corrected milk yield were randomly allocated to a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The animals fed cactus associated with CS, EGH and HCS showed higher intake of DM and nutrients. However, regarding the digestibility, diets with sugarcane bagasse showed higher digestibility compared with those with CS and hay. For microbial protein, the excretion of purine... |
