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Evaluation of internal markers in digestibility estimation for sheep and goats

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the indirect methods of obtaining digestibility with the direct method of total fecal collection to estimate the apparent digestibility of nutrients in sheep and goats supplemented with non-protein nitrogen. Five goats and five sheep with no defined racial pattern were used, distributed in two 5 × 5 Latin squares, with split plots, considering the diets as plots and the apparent digestibility determination methodologies as subplots. The diets were composed of buffelgrass hay and the addition, via ruminal infusion, of increasing amounts of nitrogen supplementation in order to gradually raise the CP level of the basal diet in intervals of 2% points, that is, + 2, +4, + 6 and + 8%. Samples of the feeds offered, and the leftovers were collected daily during the five days of collection to determine the nutrient intake, as well as the total collection of feces to determine the apparent digestibility of the nutrients. The amount of fecal dry matter excreted was estimated by the concentration of Indigestible Acid Detergent Fiber (ADFi), Indigestible Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDFi), Indigestible Dry Matter at 244 h (DMi 244 h) and Indigestible Dry Matter at 264 h (DMi 264 h). Among the evaluated markers, DMi 264 h had the lowest accuracy in estimating fecal excretion and nutrient digestibility. For the goat species, the markers ADFi and DMi 244 h proved to be able to adequately predict fecal excretion and digestibility indices, while NDFi stood out for both species. Among the evaluated markers, NDFi is the one that most accurately estimates the nutrient digestibility of the diet for goats and sheep.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The research was supported by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Paraíba, Campus II, Areia-PB, João Pessoa, CEP: 58397-000, Brazil

    Michel Alves da Silva, Juliana Silva de Oliveira, Edson Mauro Santos, Márcia Maria Cândido da Silva, Gilberto de Carvalho Sobral, Paloma Gabriela Batista Gomes, Guilherme Medeiros Leite, Maria Alyne Coutinho Santos, Paulo da Cunha Torres Júnior & Arinaldo Fernandes Matias Filho

  2. Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP: 36570-900, Brazil

    Gabriel Ferreira de Lima Cruz

  3. Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation—EMBRAPA Semi-arid Region, Petrolina, PE, CEP: 56.302-970, Brazil

    Gherman Garcia Leal de Araújo

  4. Department of Animal Production, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, IZ, Seropédica, RJ, CEP: 23.897- 000, Brazil

    João Paulo de Farias Ramos

Authors
  1. Michel Alves da Silva
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  2. Juliana Silva de Oliveira
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  3. Edson Mauro Santos
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  4. Gabriel Ferreira de Lima Cruz
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  5. Gherman Garcia Leal de Araújo
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  6. Márcia Maria Cândido da Silva
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  7. Gilberto de Carvalho Sobral
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  8. João Paulo de Farias Ramos
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  9. Paloma Gabriela Batista Gomes
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  10. Guilherme Medeiros Leite
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  11. Maria Alyne Coutinho Santos
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  12. Paulo da Cunha Torres Júnior
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  13. Arinaldo Fernandes Matias Filho
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material, data collection and analysis were performed by Michel Alves da Silva, Gabriel Ferreira de Lima Cruz, Márcia Maria Cândido da Silva, Gilberto de Carvalho Sobral, Paloma Gabriela Batista Gomes, Guilherme Medeiros Leite, Maria Alyne Coutinho Santos, Paulo da Cunha Torres Júnior, Arinaldo Fernandes Matias Filho. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Michel Alves da Silva, Edson Mauro Santos, Juliana Silva de Oliveira, João Paulo de Farias Ramos and Gabriel Ferreira de Lima Cruz, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriel Ferreira de Lima Cruz.

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Ethical approval

This study was performed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Federal University of Paraiba (protocol number: 0209/14).

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da Silva, M.A., de Oliveira, J.S., Santos, E.M. et al. Evaluation of internal markers in digestibility estimation for sheep and goats. Trop Anim Health Prod 56, 126 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-024-03963-7

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