| Summary: | An experiment was carried out to assess the effect of the incorporation of sun-dried foliage of <i>Brosimum alicastrum</i> into rations based on hay of <i>Megathyrsus maximus</i> on intake, rumen fermentation, kinetics of passage, microbial nitrogen supply to the small intestine, apparent digestibility in Pelibuey hair sheep. Four rations were randomly allotted to four rumen-cannulated lambs (BW = 37.4 ± 4.9 kg) using a 4 × 4 Latin square design to assess the effect of increasing levels (0, 15, 30 and 45% DM basis) of foliage of <i>Brosimum alicastrum</i> on a basal ration of <i>M. maximus.</i> Organic matter intake and water consumption increased linearly (<i>p</i> < 0.01) with increasing levels of <i>B. alicastrum</i> in the ration. The rate and potential extent of rumen fermentation of OM and CP of <i>B. alicastrum</i> were 10.6%/h and 86.6% and 11.4%/h and 95.2%, respectively, but no effect (<i>p</i> > 0.05) was found on the potential rumen degradation of DM (40.2%) or on the rate of degradation of DM (0.033%/h) of <i>M. maximus</i>, although a positive effect was found in the rumen degradation rate of NDF (<i>p</i> < 0.05). VFA and ammonia concentration in the rumen and the rate of passage of solids and liquids through the rumen (<i>k</i><sub>1</sub>) increased linearly (<i>p</i> < 0.01) with increasing levels of <i>B. alicastrum.</i> Rumen pH was not affected by the incorporation of <i>B. alicastrum</i> (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Microbial nitrogen supply to the small intestine (<i>p</i> < 0.001), apparent digestibility of dry matter (<i>p</i> < 0.01) and NDF (<i>p</i> < 0.05) of the rations were also significantly increased as a result of the incorporation of <i>B. alicastrum</i> foliage. Results from this experiment suggest that the foliage of <i>Brosimum alicastrum</i> can be readily incorporated at around 30% of the ration of dry matter in hair sheep with beneficial effects on feed intake, rate of passage and microbial N supply to the lower tract.
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