An experiment was carried out to evaluate the dietary concentrate levels on the intake, total and partial apparent digestibilities of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), total carbohydrates (CHO), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and non structural carbohydrates (NEC). The effects of samples collections, realized on the day or the night, on the total and partial apparent digestibilities of DM and OM, were studied. Five F1 Simental x Nellore bulls fistulated in the rumen, abomasum and ileum, full fed diets with 25.0, 37.5, 50.0, 62.5, and 75.0% of concentrate and allotted to 5 x 5 Latin square, were used. The hays of brachiaria (Brachiaria decumbens, Stapf) and coast-cross grasses (Cynodon dactylon) were used in the same proportions. The chromic oxide was used as indicator to determine the digesta flows and fecal excretion. The addition of increasing amounts of concentrate to the diet resulted in linear increases in the DM, OM, CP, EE, CHO, NEC and TDN intakes and reduction in the NDF intake. The total apparent digestibilities of DM, OM, CP, EE, CHO, NEC and TDN linearly increased with the increasing concentrate levels. The concentrate levels did not influence the NDF apparent digestibilities in the rumen and post-rumen. The reduction in the dietary NDF levels resulted in TDN linear increases and DM total apparent digestibility. Feces and abomasum and ileum digesta representative samples can be obtained using collections only during the day.
bovines; concentrate; intake; digestibility
