Economic feasibility of diets containing different nitrogen sources as a function of weight gain in Saanen breed goats / Viabilidade Econômica de dietas contendo diferentes fontes de nitrogênio em função do ganho de peso de caprinos da raça Saanen

The use of a low cost protein input results in improvements in animal zootechnical indices. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost of diets containing different nitrogen sources as a function of weight gain in Saanen goats. Eighteen 150-day-old Saanen goats were randomly divided into two groups: control group (CG) and urea group (UG). At the beginning of the experiment and every 7 days, before feeding, the animals were weighed on a mechanical platform scale to obtain live weight over a period of 121 days. The prices of the dietary ingredients were obtained from the local market of Seropédica - RJ, from April to June 2019. For statistical analysis, the GraphPad PRISM 5® software was used. The use of soybean meal or urea in the diet did not influence animal performance in relation to daily weight gain. The difference in values may not appear to be attractive, but the amount of urea used in ruminant diets is much smaller when compared to the amount of soybean meal, which reflects in the final diet price, making urea make a source more viable for the producer