Voluntary feed intake and preference of locally available feeds by the collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu/Pecari tajacu) a Neo-tropical animal, farmed in Trinidad, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

摘要

Nineanimalswithameaninitialweightof14.2(±0.3)kgwereusedforthisstudy.nbsp;Theyweredividedintothree(3)breedinggroups,eachgroupconsistingofone(1)maleandtwo(2)females.nbsp;A3x3LatinSquaredesignwasusedwhereeachofthreetreatments(A,BandC)wasrandomlyappliedtoeachbreedinggroupineachofthethreeperiods.nbsp;TreatmentAconsistedofCitrusmeal-GreenBananafruit-Dasheentubers;treatmentB,Trichantheragigantea(leavesandstems)-Coconutmeal-PiggrowerandtreatmentC,Soybeanmeal-Pumpkin-Cassavatubers.nbsp;Aperiodcomprisedsevendaysofadaptationandsevendaysofcollection.nbsp;ThevariablesmeasuredwereDryMatterFeedIntake(DMI)andfeedstuffpreferencerelativetoPiggrower.nbsp;DryMatterintake(g/head/d),(g/100gLW)and(g/kg0.75LW)didnotdifferbetweenpens(breedinggroups)orperiodandvaluesrangedfrom393to442g/head/d,2.42to2.92g/100gLWand35to45g/kg0.75LW,respectively.nbsp;FeedstuffsshowingthelowestpreferenceindexwereSoybeanmeal,CoconutmealandCitrusmealof0.827,0.588and0.510,respectively.nbsp;ValuesforCassavatubers,GreenBananafruit,PumpkinandTrichantherawere1.74,1.79,1.72and1.73,respectively.nbsp;FortreatmentsA,BandCthevalueswere1.33,1.11and1.43,respectively.nbsp;TherewasnocorrelationbetweencrudeproteinintakeandDMI(r=0.05)andcrudeproteinintakerangedfrom21.5to76g/hd/d.nbsp;ItwasconcludedthatintensivelyraisedpeccarycanbefedlocalfeedstuffssuchasCassavatubers,PumpkinandDasheentubersavailableaswastefromcropproduction,whiletheTrichantheragiganteacanbeusedasaviableproteinsource.nbsp;However,alowpreferencewasshownforCitrusmealandCoconutmeal.nbsp;Furtherworkisrequiredtofindtheoptimalfeedstuffcombinationtomeetthenutrientrequirementofthecollaredpeccaryatdifferentphysiologicalstates.