Quality of Tifton 85 Bermudagrass and Alfalfa Hay on Equine Corporal Biometry

Author(s)

Denise Tsuzukibashi

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Botucatu. 2015-09-17.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia. Botucatu
• Defense date: 2015-07-31
• Advisor: Ciniro Costa; Kátia de Oliveira; Paulo Roberto de Lima Meirelles

Abstract

We aimed, with this research, to study the effect of quality of tifton grass and alfalfa hay, in isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets, on equine corporal biometry. The treatments had six diets consisted of 50% concentrated and 50% forage and the experimental design was the latin square 6x6 (six horses and six periods). It was used six horses (1 gelding and 5 stallions), crossbred, aged between 6 and 7 years and 353.8±49.7 kg of average body weight. The forage diet consisted of combinations of hay in 2x3 factorial, two forage (tifton 85 bermudagrass and alfalfa) and three types of hay (A, B and C). The variables measured in horses were body weight (BW), abdominal circumference (AC), water intake (WI), moisture content in feces (M), total serum protein concentration (TSP), fecal output (FO), dry matter digestibility (DMD) of diets and indigestible neutral detergent fiber content (iNDF) in feces. There was significant effect (P<0.05) for BW, AC, M, FO and iNDF for type of forage. The group of horses fed alfalfa hay presented lower BW (349.23±39.69 kg), AC (174.27±8.18 cm), M (72.65±0.79%) and FO (2.42±0.10 kg), and higher iNDF content (63.19±0.59%). For both forages, hay type C resulted in higher FO (P=0.0013), and for type A was observed higher M (P<0.0001) and DMD (P=0.0061). It was possible to conclude that alfalfa hay provided reduction on BW and AC, which can be explained by higher digestibility checked for diet consisting of leguminous hay, as well as the lower water retention and higher amount of non-digestible mass in gastrintestinal tract in respect to tifton bermudagrass hay (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/20683-5 - Quality of tifton and alfalfa hays on corporal biometry and performance of athletic horses of three barrels
• Grantee: Denise Tsuzukibashi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master