Effects of banana residue hay on performance and ingestive behavior of sheep

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of including banana leaf and pseudostem hay, subjected to different drying methods, on the performance and ingestive behavior of sheep. Twenty Santa Inês x Dorper lambs were used and distributed into five diets: Tifton 85 grass hay, shade-dried banana leaf hay, shade-dried pseudostem banana hay, sun-dried banana leaf hay and sun-dried banana pseudostem hay. The inclusion of banana residues reduced the dry matter intake, with the lowest intake observed in animals fed shade-dried leaf hay (67.3g/kg LW0.75/day). Despite the lower dry matter intake (82.9g/kg LW0.75/day), animals fed pseudostem hay had similar weight gain to those on Tifton 85 grass hay (122.8g/day). The leaf hay resulted in longer chewing time (881.4min/day), rumination time (591.4min/day) and ruminal bolus chews (60.5/bolus), likely due to its higher lignin content. Leaf hay reduces animal performance and is not recommended for sheep confinement, whereas pseudostem hay promotes similar performance to Tifton hay is a viable alternative roughage. Sun drying improved ingestive behavior and offered processing advantages.