Effect of supplementation with cotton seed and ground corn on the intake and productive performance of colombian hair sheep

Objective. Effect of supplementation with cotton seed and ground corn on the intake and productive performance of Colombian hair sheep. Materials and methods. 24 sheep with an average weight of 16±2 kg were distributed in four treatments T0: grazing, T1: grazing + 25% cotton seed (CS) + 75% ground corn (GC), T2: grazing + 50% CS + 50% GC and T3: grazing + 75% CS + 25% GC. The indigestible acid detergent fiber (FDAi) was used as internal marker and chromium oxide (Cr2O3) as an external marker. Samples of feces, forages and supplements were incubated in situ (rumen) for 144 hours. To calculate fecal production, 1 g of chrome oxide (Cr2O3) was given to each ovine in a gelatin capsule for 15 days. A complete randomized design with four treatments and six replicates was used. The animals were weighed every 14 days to determine the daily weight gains. Food conversion and feed efficiency were determined. An analysis of variance was performed in a completely randomized design. Results. There were differences (p≤0.05) for digestibility and dry matter intake (DMi) and, presenting values of 47.6, 56.2, 58.6, and 59.0% and DMi were 0.514, 0.788, 1.02, and 1.40 kg/animal/d-1 for T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. For weight gain and body condition significant differences were found (p≤0.05) presenting averages of 0.053, 0.126, 0.128 and 0.130 kg d-1 and a body condition of 2, 3, 3, 3 for T0, T1 , T2 and T3, respectively. Conclusions. Supplementation with cotton seed and ground corn stimulated DMS and improved the productive performance of the animals.