Evaluación productiva de cuyes (Cavia porcellus) en la etapa de crecimiento y engorde alimentados a base de maralfalfa (pennisetum sp.) con diferentes niveles de harina de maní forrajero (arachis pintoi) en el cantón Morona.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to evaluate different levels of forage peanut meal (Arachis pintoi) on the productive behavior of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) in the growth and fattening stage. An experimental and correlational investigation of an independent variable which is the amount of fodder peanut meal and the dependent variables such as final weight, weight gain, feed consumption and carcass weight was used, with a quantitative approach in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. A completely randomized design was used with an experimental sample of 48 creole guinea pigs of 21 days of age distributed in four treatments with four replicates each, and each replicate was formed by three experimental units. The forage peanut meal was analyzed by bromatological analysis to determine its nutritional content. The experimental treatments consisted of a combined diet of green mar alfalfa (Pennisetum sp.) and forage peanut meal in percentage proportions of 100 to 0 (T0), 90 to 10 (T1), 85 to 15 (T2) and 80 to 20 (T3). It was obtained that the addition of 20% forage peanut meal in the feeding of guinea pigs in the growth-fattening stage generated better results in the productive behavior of the animal, reaching an average final weight of 1094.25 grams, a weight gain of 764.91 grams, a feed consumption equivalent to 4722.67 grams and a carcass weight of 794.50 grams for each animal. It is concluded that the use of forage peanut meal in a percentage of 20% of the total feed would improve the productive behavior of the animal and would generate a cost-benefit ratio of 0.37 dollars for the producer. It is recommended that producers include feed supplements in the diet of the animals to improve their productive development.