Background:

The Cuban economic hardships have made it necessary to raise food production. Aim. To demonstrate the maize (Zea mays. L.) silage effect on the behavior of some production and economic indicators of Pelibuey sheep fed maize (Zea mays. L.) silage.

Methods:

The study took place at El Hoyo Sheep Farm, in Jimaguayu, Camaguey. A total of 40 ovine males were selected at random, at six months of age, and approximately 16 ± 0.5 kg, then they were distributed into two groups. One of the groups was administered the maize (Zea mays. L.) silage. The mean daily gain (MDG), feed consumption in the pen (FCP) and while grazing, were calculated. The economic analysis was performed according to the fix and variable costs. Data normality was corroborated through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. And SPSS, 21 for Windows (2012).

Results:

The production indicators of the sheep that consumed the maize (Zea mays L.) silage showed significantly higher values (p≤0.5) than the control group, reaching 23.3 kg at 60 days, and total increases of 7.2 kg, in terms of feed consumption and conversion. Concerning the economic side, there was a 12.2% increase over the costs of the process.

Conclusions:

The results demonstrated the positive effect of the maize (Zea mays. L.) silage administered to the animals.