Corn Silage as a Total Diet with by-Products of the Babassu Agroindustry in the Feed of Confined Ruminants

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of total ration silage (TRS) containing two babassu by-products to replace the corn. The silages were formulated to meet the requirements of sheep for an average daily gain of 200 g/day. A completely randomized experimental design was used with four treatments and five replications. The treatments consisted of CS: Corn silage (Control); TRSS: Corn silage with corn and soybean meal; TRSF: Total ration silage with babassu mesocarp flour; and TRSC: Total feed silage with babassu cake. The chemical composition of the silages had a significant difference (p < 0.05) for all variates. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) for gas (LG, p < 0.001) and effluent losses (LE, p < 0.001), dry matter recovery (DMR, p < 0.001), buffer capacity (BC, p < 0.001), lactic acid (LA, p < 0.001), butyric acid (BA, p < 0.001), lactic acid/fermentation products (LA:FP, p < 0.001), and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N, p < 0.001). The babassu by-products can replace ground corn by up to 50% in total ration silage and improve the fermentation profile and nutritional value of the silage, meeting the nutritional requirements of finishing sheep.