Productive Performance of Sheep Supplemented with Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia spp.) and Mezquite (Prossopis spp.)

In Mexico, about sixty percent of its territory is considered as arid and semiarid land. In these areas the environmental conditions are extreme, and under such conditions agricultural production is difficult. The feeding of animals represent in some cases up to seventy percent of the total production costs, therefore there is a need to find alternative feeds among the natural plants of these areas to lower the cost of animal production without affecting their productivity. Among the plants that grow in these areas that offer utilization potential in the feeding of animals are prickly pear cactus and mezquite. The objectives of this work were to determine the productive performance (total and daily weight gain, feed efficiency and growth efficiency) of sheep supplemented with prickly pear cactus and mezquite. Fifteen male sheeps with an average initial weight of 20.6 kg were assigned to treatments I: control ration, II: 80% control ration plus 15% prickly pear cactus and 5% mezquite, and III: 80% control ration plus 5% prickly pear cactus and 15% mezquite during 60 days. Total and daily weight gain (kg) were different (P<0.05) between treatment I (8.38, 0.139) and treatments II (10.96, 0.182) and III (10.62, 0.176), respectively. No differences (P>0.05) were observed between treatments II and III. The same trend was observed for feed and growth efficiency among treatments I (9.69, 60.92), II (5.42, 77.66) and III (5.27, 71.44), respectively. The utilization of prickly pear cactus and mezquite as supplement are a good alternative in the feeding of sheep.