Sugarcane bagasse as exclusive roughage for dairy heifers

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrate levels (40, 50, 60, and 70% on dry matter basis) on intake, digestibility of nutrients, and performance of heifers fed sugarcane bagasse as exclusive roughage. Twenty Girolando heifers, with an average body weight of 198±25.6 kg were assigned to a completely randomized design, established according to body weight. The intake of dry matter (5.12 to 7.73 kg d-1), organic matter (4.72 to 7.32 kg d-1), crude protein (0.71 to 1.05 kg d-1), and digestible organic matter (3.09 to 4.77 kg d-1) linearly increased ...