Performance evaluation of confined lambs fed cactus cladodes

Sheep farming is one of the main economic activities in semiarid regions throughout the world, however, in some periods of the year there is a shortage of food supply, especially in the dry season, making it necessary to search for viable food alternatives to production, and cactus cladodes is a good alternative due to its high productivity and good energy value. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of confined sheep fed with different levels of inclusion (0, 250, 500, and 750g/kg) of Orelha de Elefante Mexicana cactus cladodes (Opuntia stricta Haw) in the roughage:concentrate (R:C) ratios (25:75; 45:55; 60:40; 75:25), respectively. Thirty-two crossbred Santa Inês lambs, not castrated, with an average body weight of 19 ± 2.4 kg, and an average age of 120 days were used. The experimental design used was in randomized blocks, with four treatments and eight replications. The experimental period was 70 days, with 15 days for quarantine of animals, 15 days of adaptation, and 40 days of termination. It was observed that the final body condition score, final body weight, total weight gain, and daily weight gain were higher for sheep fed with 0 and 250 g/kg of cactus cladodes inclusion. The feed conversion (FC) showed higher values with the increase in the levels of cactus cladodes in the diets, while the feed efficiency (FE) decreased. The animals submitted to diets with 750g/kg of cactus cladodes presented the lowest feed conversion (4.7 kg of DM ingested/kg of weight gain). Cactus cladodes can be offered to lambs at a level of 250g/kg of dry matter without affecting the performance of the animals.