Productive Response of Pelibuey Sheep to Supplementation in the Stretching Season in the Dry Tropic

Abstract

Sheep meat production in the dry tropics of Mexico is low in the dry season, due to lack of forage, therefore, strategic supplementation is important to av oid weight loss in animals; The research was carried out from August 15 to De cember 15, 2020 in order to evaluate the productive response of pelibuey sh eep in confinement, fed with pangola grass hay (GH), plains grass silage (PGS) and supplemented with commercial feed (CF) in the dry season. 16 sheep of the same weight and age were used, four treatments were evaluated in them, in a completely random design; the treatments were four levels of supplement 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 kg of AC fed with HP and PGS. Sheep were dewormed at the beginning of the experiment and housed in individual cages. The variables were: dry matter intake, daily weight gain (DWG) and DM digestibility. DM consumption was different (P < 0.01), the lowest consumption was 0.364 kg in treatment 1 (T1), with a maximum of 0.684 kg in T4; WDG was different (P < 0.01), with a lower value of 0.044 kg&middot;day -1 in T1 and a higher value of 0.112 kg in T4. The apparent digestibility of the dry matter showed a difference (P < 0.01) which varied from 45.52 to 59.15% for T1 and T4, respectively. DM intake, WL gain, and DM digestibility increased with increasing supplement level at the levels studied.