Intake, performance, carcass traits and meat quality of goats grazing in the Caatinga rangeland

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Dulciene Karla de Andrade
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Cordeiro, Fábia Simone Bezerra, Silva, Érica Carla Lopes da, Cardoso, Daniel Barros, Magalhães, André Luiz Rodrigues, Melo, Airon Aparecido Silva de, Pereira, Kedes Paulo, Silva, Evannielly Thuanny dos Santos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Semina. Ciências Agrárias (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/semagrarias/article/view/37038
• topic: Biome; CCI; Roughage; Supply; Small Ruminant.; Bioma; ICC; Pequenos ruminantes; Suplementação; Volumoso.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intake, performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of goats submitted to grazing in the Caatinga rangeland supplemented with two hays: jitirana (Merremia aegyptia) or mororó (Bauhinia cheilanta), with or without the association of spineless cactus (Nopalea cochelinifera Salm Dick), and a treatment without supplementation (control). Thirty male goats (castrated), of no defined breed, with an initial mean body weight of 19 ± 0.35 kg and approximately 90 days of age were used. The experimental design was completely randomized, using initial body weight as a covariate, in a factorial design (2 x 2) + 1, with five treatments and six replicates. The highest intake of supplement, total dry matter (DM), non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC), and total digestible nutrients (TDN) intakes occurred in the animals supplemented with jitirana or mororó hays associated with spineless cactus, and higher crude protein (CP) intake accounted for goats supplemented with mororó hay and spineless cactus. Higher intakes of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were observed in the animals fed with jitirana hay. There were no dietary influences in pasture DM intake, performance, cut weights, and carcass characteristics. As for the quality of the meat, there was an influence of the treatments only on the parameter b* (yellowness). Feeding supplementation with jitirana and mororó hays, and spineless cactus did not improve performance and carcass characteristics, and did not negatively influence the quality of goat meat raised on pasture in the Caatinga region.