Intake, apparent digestibility, rumen fermentation and nitrogen efficiency in sheep fed a tropical legume silage with or without concentrate

Abstract Legume silage can increase the forage quality of the diets as well as supply it with nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. The objective was to evaluate the intake, apparent digestibility, rumen fermentation and nitrogen efficiency in sheep fed a tropical legume silage with or without concentrate. Twelve crossbred sheep with an average initial body weight of 32.2 ± 1.26 kg, with six animals cannulated in the rumen were distributed into four 3 × 3 Latin squares. The treatments were 1) Stylosanthes silage without concentrate (StS), 2) Stylosanthes silage with concentrate (StS+C), and 3) c...