Whole-plant sesame silage in substitution of whole-plant corn silage in diets of feedlot lambs

The study evaluated the replacement of whole-corn plant silage (WCPS) by whole-sesame plant silage (WSPS) in diets for finishing lambs. Forty castrated crossbred Santa Ines lambs with an average initial body weight of 21.8 +/- 1.97 kg were randomly assigned to four replacement levels: 0, 333, 670 and 1000 g kg-1 DM. The intake of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) decreased linearly while ether extract intake increased linearly. The digestibility of NDF decreased linearly while crude protein digestibility decreased quadratically with the lowest value (690 g kg-1) found at the level of 333 g kg-1. Digestibility and intake of the other nutrients, such as the performance did not display differences. The time spent per chewed bolus decreased quadratically, reaching the minimum value of 39 sec/bolus at the level of 370 g kg-1. The feeding efficiency of NDF decreased quadratically with the lowest efficiency of 77 g/h at the level of 600 g kg-1. Rumination efficiency (RE) of DM increased linearly while RENDF reduced quadratically, reaching the lowest value of 36 g/h at the level of 370 g kg-1. Carcass traits were not affected by the diets. Thus, WSPS can be used up to 400 g kg-1 DM in diets for finishing lambs.