EFFECT OF PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE CLINICAL AND PARASITOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF LAMBS UNDER PASTURE OF TIFTON 85

Abstract

The protein supplementation may be an important tool for sheep production systems in tropical grazing. This work aimed to evaluate parasitological and clinical aspects of lambs under irrigated pasture of Tifton 85 (Cynodon dactylon) and receiving supplementation from different protein sources. Twenty-eight, castrated and crossbreed lambs, were used as animal testers and allocated into four treatments. Besides the control with exclusively use of pasture, the following treatments were evaluated: soybean meal, urea and cottonseed meal. Deworming was accomplished according to the Famacha© method. There was not significant difference (P>0.05) between treatments for the total dry matter consumption, daily weight gain and total weight gain. Forage dry matter intake was higher (P<0.05) for animals fed exclusively with pasture. These animals also showed greater number of fecal eggs per gram (EPG) (P<0.05) when compared with urea or cottonseed meal supplementation. There were no difference (P>0.05) for the different colors of ocular mucous nor for the number of animals dewormed. A prevalence of 72.0 to 83.0% of Trichostrongylus sp. was found. The different protein sources did not influence clinical nor animal productive characteristics.KEYWORDS: Cottonseed meal, Cynodon dactylon, endoparasites, Famacha©, soybean meal, urea.