Nutritive value of hays of Brachiaria brizantha (Signalgrass), B. purpurascens (Paragrass), and Brachiaria sp.(Tannergrass)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Itaguaí, State of Rio de Janeiro, with the objective of determining the yield and nutritive value of three Brachiaria hays, namely signalgrass, paragrass and tannergrass. Plots were established vegetatively using stolons planted in a continuous line, but spaced 1 meter apart. Soil in the experimental area was of the "gray-hydromorphic" type representative of the region, in plots of 25 m², with 4 repetitions. Six wethers (2 in each treatment) were used in the digestibility trial, and the method used was total collection of feces.The hays of signalgrass, paragrass and tannergrass showed 86.2, 81.8, and 83.6% dry material (DM); 5.2, 3.6, and 3.4% Crude Protein (CP); and 23.7, 23.3, and 23% Crude Fiber (CF), respectively. The coefficients of digestibility (CD) obtained were: for DM 58.2, 54.8, and 54.5%; for CP 80.4, 76.2, and 66.8% and for CF 80.7, 81.0 and 78.2% respectively. Statistical analysis did not yield significant differences (5% level) in digestibility of dry material, crude fiber nor in total digestible nutrients (TDN) among the treatments.