The experiment was carried out to evaluate the ingestive behavior of sheep fed diets containing cocoa meal. Sixteen Santa Inês female sheep, no-pregnant, no-lactating, averaging 25 kg of body weight and 12 months of age, maintained in individual barns were used. The cocoa meal was fed in the concentrate at the levels of 0, 10, 20 and 30%, and as forage was cassava aerial part hay. The diets were offered in total mixed ration, in 50:50 forage:concentrate ratio. Feeding, ruminating and idle times obtained in 24 hours of observation were similar; however, animals that consumed diets with higher cocoa meal levels, over 14.8% of substitution in the concentrate, reduced the number of ruminated boli per day, which was balanced by the increase of chewing time per bolus. Dry matter (DM) intake, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake and feeding efficiency (g DM and NDF/hours) were not influenced by cocoa meal levels of animal diets. However, this feed promoted alterations in rumination efficiency (g DM and NDF/bolus). The ruminating chewing number per ruminated bolus linearly increased while chewing number per day showed quadratic behavior, with maximum estimated value of 42,818.4 daily chewing for 16.9% cocoa meal level. Although no difference was observed for DM and NDF (kg/day) intake, cocoa meal inclusion to Santa Inês sheep diet affected some ingestive behavior parameters.
feeding; time; idle; rumination
