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Energy contribution of forage species for the production of dual-purpose cattle

Abstract:

Livestock in semi-arid areas such as the province of Santa Elena has ancestral management with deficiencies in animal nutrition, which economically affects small farmers or livestock producers, especially in the dry season. This type of production is not considered a profitable business, but rather as a subsistence activity. Feeding problems and incipient handling of the animals prevent them from gaining weight for meat or producing more milk. The objective of this research was to pbkp_redict the daily production of meat and milk in cattle from energy estimates of forage species using mathematical formulas, to estimate the necessary amount of fresh forage (kg) that is needed to cover the total energy requirements of the animal. The results of the bromatological analysis in the specific conditions of the province of Santa Elena determined the tree species Caesalpinia glabatra with the highest% of dry matter, Leucaena leucocephala and Moringa oleifera with the highest protein values. The energy value calculated for Moringa oleifera, Leucaena leucocephala and Caesalpinia glabatra presented moringa as the species that contributes the highest energy value to cattle. The energy estimates that fresh forage and dry matter produce in catle, for Moringa oleifera, the highest amount of kg/meat/day and the highest amount of l/ milk/day. The Caesalpinia glabatra species proved to be the forage species with the highest yield and animal load in adult bovine units per hectare.