Quality of tifton and alfalfa hays and equine body biometrics

Abstract

This paper targets the quality of tifton bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.)and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) hays in isoproteic and isoenergetic dietson horse body biometrics. Six equines, between 6.5±0.5 years oldand with an mean body weight of 354±50kg, were used in this study.The treatments consisted of six diets and the experimental delineationwas the Latin square (6x6). The diet’s forage was composed by acombination of hays, in a factorial scheme (2x3), with two forages(tifton bermudagrass and alfalfa) and three types of hay (A, B and C).There was a significant effect in the variables body weight, abdominalgirth, fecal water content, and fecal production for the forage type.Greater digestibility coefficient of dietary dry matter values wereidentified in the diets composed by type A and B alfalfa hay(64.71±2.38% and 63.45±2.41%, respectively), that have significantlysurpassed (P = 0.0061) the results obtained for the type C hay diets. Itwas possible to conclude that the alfalfa hay provided a reduction inthe horse’s body weight and thoracic perimeter, what can be explainedby the greater verified digestibility, as well as the lesser fecal waterretention with the diets containing only the legume.