DIGESTIBILIDAD DE AVENA ENTERA Y LAMINADA AL VAPOR EN YEGUAS

Abstract

Apparent digestibility of whole and rolled oats in mares.
The aim of the study was to compare the apparent digestibility of whole and rolled oats in mares, via a total collection digestion trial. Four adult Chilean mares were used, with an average body weight of 450 kg and housed in individual stalls. The digestibility of whole and rolled oats was obtained by difference between the digestibility of the basal diet (alfalfa hay) and the digestibility of each alfalfa + oats diet. All the animals were used to evaluate each diet. The pre-experimental periods were of 10 days and the collection periods were of 6 days. The digestibility of the nutrients of whole and rolled oats was 69.2 ± 3.0% and 67.8 ± 1.5% for dry matter 69.7 ± 2.8% and 70.7 ± 0.9% for organic matter, 68.5 ± 2.1% and 68.0 ± 0.9% for gross energy, 91.4 ± 3.6% and 73.5 ± 5.9% for crude protein and 23.4 ± 9.4% and 37.9 ± 10.6% for crude fiber, respectively. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, gross energy and crude fibre between the treatments. However, the difference in crude protein digestibility was significant (P<0.05).