The objective of this research was to evaluate alternative feeds for adult horses characterized as agroindustrial by-products through the total apparent digestibility and digestible nutrients determinations with Creole adult horses. Five animals were housed in individual metabolism cages and fed with five experimental diets, starting from a reference diet containing peletized ration and Tifton - 85 hay, and other four with the replacement of 30% with weight basis (kg/kg) of the reference diet for each one of the agro industrial by-products, soybean residue, soybean hulls, wheat hulls and corn hulls. The best digestibility values for dry matter, crude protein, ethereal extract, neutral and acid detergent fiber, were obtained with the corn hulls diet (68.05%), reference diet (61.38%), soybean residue diet (64.50%), corn hulls diet (84.32%) and soybean hulls diet (60.62%), respectively. The highest digestible dry matter value was observed with reference diet (62.10%) and the others treatments presented mean value of 50.22%. To each one of the alternative feeds tested in this study, the highest values for digestible protein, ether extract, neutral and acid detergent fiber were observed with wheat hulls (7.53%), soybean residue (5.11%), soybean hulls (53.04 and 40.77%), respectively. It was suggest that all by-products could be used in the horse feeding without problems to the digestive tract; therefore, the inclusion level and the combination of these by-products in the formulation of the diets depend on the availability and regional costs.
agro industrial by-products; equine; nutrition
