CANOLA LEVEL AND CANOLA PROCESSING AND OA T HAY PARTICLE-SIZE ON FEED-INTAKE AND APPARENT DIGESTIBILITY BY SHEEPS

This trial was undertaken to study the feed intake and the apparent di gestibility of the cellular wall constituents and crude protein of can ola meal and oat hay, by the total collect of faeces, establishing vol untary intake. The canola meal and canola pelleted in cylinder were us ed in two levels (15% and 30%/dry matter). The oat hay was triturated in particles of 5 or 10mm. Sixteen male castrated sheeps, native brazi lian breed with average weight of 59 kg were used. A completely random ized design was used with 8 treatments and 4 repetitions. The dry matt er (DM), crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE) a nd nitrogen free extract (NFE) intake were superior (P < 0.05) in rati ons containning 30% of canola meal. The crude fiber (CF), neutral dete rgent fiber (NDF) acid detergent fiber (ADF) cellulose (CEL) and hemic ellulose (HEM) intake were similar (P > 0.05) in both levels. The proc esing of canola (meal and pellets) and the lenght of oat hay particle (5 ou 10mm) did not influence (P > 0.05) the voluntary intake by sheep s. The DM, OM and HEM apparent digestibilities were similar (P > 0.05) for the rations containning 15 or 30% of canola. The CP, EE and NFE a pparent digestibilities were superior (P < 0.05) for the rations with 30% of canola. The CF, NDF, ADF and CEL apparent digestibilities were superior (P < 0.05) for the rations with 15% of canola. The DM, OM, EE , CF NDF, ADF and CEL apparent digestibilities were superior (P < 0.05 ) for the rations containing pelleted canola. However, the CP, NEE and HEM digestibilities were similar (P > 0.05) between two canola proces sings forms (meal and pelleted), The DM, CP, OM and EE apparent digest ibilities were similar (P > 0.05) between both particle sizes (5 or 10 mm). However, the NFE, NDF, ADF and CEL apparent digestibilities were superior (P < 0.05) for the rations with longer hay particles.