Intake and digestibility of silage fibrous fractions of four genotypes of sorghum were evaluated in sheep. The higher intake of NDF was observed for hybrid silages BR701 and BR601 (P<0.05), and hybrid BR700 did not differ from the others. BR601 showed the highest digestibility of NDF and BR700 the lowest (P<0.05). The highest intake of digestible NDF was observed in BR601 (P<0.05) and BR700 and AG2002 showed the lowest. BR700 had the highest ADF intake and AG2002 the lowest (P<0.05). Digestibility of ADF was superior in hybrids BR601 and BR700 when compared to AG2002 (P<0.05). The highest intake of digestible ADF was observed in BR700 and the lowest in AG2002. Cellulose intake was the highest in BR700 and the lowest in AG2002(P<0.05). No differences on digestibilities of cellulose among the hybrids were found, but the intakes of digestible cellulose were superior in BR700, BR701 and BR601 (P<0.05). The animals fed on BR601 showed the highest consumption of hemicellulose but there were no differences among digestibilities of hemicellulose intakes. The highest intake of lignin was observed for animals fed on hybrid BR700 sorghum silage and the lowest for those fed on BR601 and AG2002 silages (P<0.05).
silage; sorghum; consumption; digestiblity; fibrous fraction; sheep
