Comportamento ingestivo em caprinos alimentados com dietas contendo cana-de-açúcar tratada com óxido de cálcio

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of sugar cane treated with calcium oxide (CaO) on ingestive behavior in goats. It was used eight castrated male Saanen goats, with 22.6 kg average body weight and at four months of age, distributed in two 4 × 4 Latin squares, with four 14-day experimental periods. The animals were kept in individual 1.2-m2 stalls, with wood battened floor, provided with individual feeders and drinkers. The diets were formulated to be isoproteic, with 14% crude protein (CP) and presented 70% sugar cane treated with 0; 0.75; 1.5 or 2.25% of calcium oxide (on natural matter basis) corrected with 1% urea and 30% of concentrate fed ad libitum. Sugar cane added with doses of calcium oxide was crushed in stationary chopper, weighed and stored in 50-L plastic buckets and treated with calcium oxide, given to the animals after 24 hours of storage. Times spent in feeding, ruminating (min/day; min/kg DM and min/kg NDF) and idle (min/day) were not affected by addition of calcium oxide to sugar cane. Addition of calcium oxide to sugar cane did not influence effciency of feeding and rumination mad it reduced average time spent per feeding period. Ingestive behavior of growing goats is not affected by utilization of diets with sugar cane treated with up to 2.25% of calcium oxide.