Diatomeas en la alimentación de Cavia Porcellus (cuyes) en las etapas de crecimiento y engorde.

Abstract

In the present investigation, different levels of diatoms were evaluated (1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 kg/Tn), compared to a control treatment, to determine the products and health behavior of the guinea pigs in the growth and fattening stages. For this, 40 guinea pigs of 15 days of age were used with a weight of 350 g, which were distributed under a completely randomized design with a combined arrangement of 2 factors, made up of 5 repetitions and an experimental unit size of 2 guinea pigs per repetition; The data obtained were submitted to the analysis of variance, separation of means according to Duncan with a significance level of P 0.05 and P 0.01, and the analysis of regression and correlation. The best productive results were obtained with the use of 4.5 kg/Tn of diatoms (T3), reaching a final weight of 1.19 kg, an increase in weight gain of 0.84 kg, and efficient feed conversion of 7.39. As for the health status, it was determined that with the addition of 4.5 kg/Tn of diatoms (T3), the parasitic load is reduced from 285 to 50 OPG and the bacterial load from 3200 to 790 CFU/g, after 90 days. Finally, the highest profitability was recorded with the use of 4.5 kg/Tn of diatoms (Q3), with a benefit/cost ratio of 1.19 which means that for every dollar invested 0.9 dollars are profitable (USD). The conclusion is that by using 4,5 kg/Tn of diatoms in the guinea pigs' diets, the productive and economic parameters are considerably improved. However, it is recommended to use diatoms in other species of zootechnical interest, in this way the use of chemical products as dewormers could be reduced to be replaced by a natural product such as the diatom substrate.