Forage cactus associated with different fiber sources for lactating Sindhi cows: intake, digestibility and microbial protein production

This experiment was carried to evaluate the effect of forage cactus with different fiber sources (elephant grass hay [EGH], corn straw [CS], hay of cassava shoots [HCS], fresh sugarcane bagasse [FSB], and hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse [HSB]) on intake, apparent digestibility and macrobiotic protein production of cows. Five cows with 265 kg average body weight, 4.95 kg average daily milk yield and 5.22 kg 4% fat-corrected milk yield were randomly allocated to a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The animals fed cactus associated with CS, EGH and HCS showed higher intake of DM and nutrients. However, regarding the digestibility, diets with sugarcane bagasse showed higher digestibility compared with those with CS and hay. For microbial protein, the excretion of purine derivatives, synthesis of microbial N and microbial protein production were higher in the treatment with CS than in the treatment with sugarcane bagasse. On the other hand, the treatment with EGH and HCS did not have statistical differences compared with the other cases. The mean efficiency of microbial protein synthesis of the experiment was 131 g microbial crude protein/kg of TDN. The treatment with CS showed better efficiency; however, it was statistically superior only compared with FSB. The other treatments did not show statistical difference compared with the other cases. Diets with cactus associated with corn straw, hay of elephant grass or hay of cassava shoots provide higher intake of dry matter and nutrients and better metabolic response compared with diets with cactus associated with sugarcane bagasse for lactating Sindhi cows.