Abstract

PAREDES G, Julio; SAN MARTIN H, Felipe; OLAZABAL L, Juan  and  ARA G, Miguel. Effect of neutral detergent fibre on feed intake in the alpaca (Vicugna pacos). Rev. investig. vet. Perú [online]. 2014, vol.25, n.2, pp.205-212. ISSN 1609-9117.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the dry matter intake (DMI) and neutral detergent fibre intake (NDFI) in the alpaca according to various levels of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) in the diet, and to estimate the intake based on NDF content in the diet. Four 3-year-old male Huacaya alpacas of 48.6 ± 1.3 kg body weight (BW) were used in a 4x4 Latin Square design. Feed was supplied ad libitum twice daily at 08:00 and 16:00 h. The treatments, based on oat hay with different proportions of stems and leaves, processed bya grinder at thesizeof 2 cm and separated byasieveof 0.4 cm, were: leaves ofoathay (T1), 50% of oat hay and 50% of leaves of oat hay (T2), whole oat hay (T3) and stems of oat hay (T4), corresponding to 58.24, 61.38, 66.31 and 70.22% of NDF respectively. The results showed that increasing the level of NDF in the diet causes a decrease on DMI (p<0.05) andwithoutaffectingNDFI.ThemaximumNDFIwas0.97%BWand25.6g/kg^0.75. The average NDFI was 0.92 ± 0.06% BW and 24.22 ± 1.62 g/kg^0.75. In conclusion, NDF in the range used in the study affects feed intake in the alpaca

Keywords : South American camelids; feed intake; neutral detergent fibre.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )