EFFECTS OF REPLACING CORN BY COCOYAM-CORM (Colocasia esculenta) ON in vitro DEGRADATION OF DIETS AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF FINISHING PELIBUEY LAMBS

Abstract

The nutritional attributes of dehydrated cocoyam-corm (Colocasia esculenta; CC) allow it to be considered as a dietary ingredient to replace the conventional grains in ruminants’ diets. The aim of this study was to evaluate the replacement of maize grain with dehydrated CC in the in vitro degradation and the growth performance of Pelibuey lambs, based on the hypothesis that lambs fed diets with maize grains or CC will have a comparable productive performance. Diets with 0, 20, and 35 % of CC (dry basis) and with a similar percentage of protein and energy were formulated for finishing lambs. The in vitro degradation kinetics of the dry matter in the experimental diets was quantified in this study. Diets were assigned randomly to 30 Pelibuey lambs (18.3 kg ? 1.21 kg) fed individually. The experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments, 10 lambs in each one. Body weight and feed intake were recorded during 70 d, and afterward, the carcass yield was also recorded. With the increase of CC in the diet, the in vitro degradation kinetics of DM increased linearly (p?0.05). The percentage of degradation was higher in the diet with 35 % of CC as compared to the diet with 0 and 20 %. The productive variables were similar within the lambs fed diets with 0, 20, and 35 % of CC. The 30 % of CC can partially replace the conventional grains without any effect on the productive variables of finishing Pelibuey lambs.