Resumo

RIOS P, Leyla; RONDON M, Zoraida; B. DE COMBELLAS, Josefina  e  ALVAREZ Z., Ramón. Use of Mulberry (Morus sp.) and Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) as concentrate substitute for growing lambs. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2005, vol.23, n.1, pp.48-60. ISSN 0798-7269.

Summary An experiment was carried out to evaluate the use of fresh mulberry (Morus sp.) and gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) as substitutes of concentrate used as diet complements of confined growing lambs. The duration of the trial was 16 weeks ant the variables measured were: basal diet intake (harvested grass: Pennisetum purpureum), N-NH3 level in the ruminal liquor, and daily weight gain (DWG). Thirty lambs were used with initial average weight of 15.5+1.2 kg, and randomly distributed in individual pens in three treatments: T1: 380 g of concentrate, T2: 185 g of concentrate + 2 kg of fresh mulberry, and T3: 1.5 kg of fresh mulberry + 1.5 kg of fresh gliricidia + minerals. The basal diet was offered ad libitum. The results were: average grass intake (g DM/d): 486a, 342b, and 387b (P< 0.05), N-NH3 (mg/l): 173, 186, and 224 (P>0.05), and DWG (g/d): 54b, 87a, and 56b (P< 0.05) for T1, T2, and T3, respectively. The partial substitution of the concentrate with fresh mulberry resulted in higher daily weight gains than those obtained with the other feed combinations used in this experiment.

Palavras-chave : Mulberry; gliricidia; growing lambs; confinement..