Pelleted citrus pulp in equine feeding

The objective of this research was to study three levels of pelleted citrus pulp (PCP) in substitution to corn in diets of growing fillies. Twenty-one purebred and crossbred Arabian fillies averaging 278+/-9.6 ka of initial live weight and 18 months of age were used. The animals were maintained in individual pens and were daily exercised. A completely randomized design with three treatments: basal diet (T-1), 7.5% PCP (T-2) and 15.0% PCP (T-3) with seven replicates. and with the filly as the experimental unit. The experimental period was of 16 weeks. The diets were formulated with 40% of coast-cross (Cynodon dactylon Pers) hay and 60% of concentrate, 14.5% of crude protein (CP), 2.77 kcal/g of digestible energy, on the dry matter (DM) basis. Weight gain, voluntary feed intake (gDM/kg(.75)) and the hearth girth did not differ among the treatments. The average withers height for T-1 (6.8+/-1.0 cm) was higher than T-2 (3.4+/-1.0 cm) and T-3 (4.6+/-1.0 cm). The DM apparent digestibility coefficient for T-2 (68.7+/-1.2%) and T-3 (07.5+/-1.2 %) were higher than T-1 (58.6+/-1.2 %). The same result was obtained for the CP, T-2 (77.1+/-1.5 %) and T-3 (78.6+/-1.5 %) were higher than that for T-1 (70.8+/-1.5 %). For the gross energy, T-2 (59.8+/-0.4%) was lower than both T-1 (62.0+/-0.4%) and T-3 (61.2+/-0.4%). There were no differences among the treatments for neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and the solid and liquid passage rate of the digesta. The pelleted citrus pulp can be used up to 15.0% in the diets of growing fillies, without affecting the animal performance.