Replacement of sorghum grain with Guazuma ulmifolia fruit in lambs' diets with different forage

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of replacement of sorghum grain (SG) with Guazuma ulmifolia fruit (GU) in lambs' diets with alfalfa (AA) or maralfalfa (MA) on productive performance and digestibility. Four male Blackbelly sheep with a mean body weight (BW) of 35 kg, with ruminal cannula, were used for the determination of in vivo, in vitro and in situ digestibility. Twenty Pelibuey male lambs with a mean initial BW of 15 +/- 1.5 kg were used under a completely randomized design in the productive performance trial. The percentage composition of experimental diets were as follow: Diet 1: 55 of MA, 20 of GU and 8 of SG; Diet 2: 55 of MA, 8 of GU and 20 of SG; Diet 3: 55 of AA, 20 of GU and 8 of SG and Diet 4: 55 of AA, 8 of GU and 20 of SG. Moreover, all diets contain sugar cane molasses (5%), canola meal (9%) and mineral mix (3%). There were no effect (p > 0.05) of sorghum grain replacement on digestibility and productive performance. Nevertheless, these value were lower (p < 0.05) with MA inclusion in diets. In conclusion, the sorghum grain can be replaced by Guazuma ulmifolia fruit up to 20% of the diets with low and high levels of fiber without effect on dry matter digestibility and productive performance.