Evaluation of three levels of quinoa powder (Chenopodium quinoa Wild.) in the productive behavior of guinea pigs

Abstract

In the last few years, guinea pig breeding has been revalued for its nutritional value and its capacity to adapt to diverse climatic conditions. The main objective of the investigation was to evaluate the effect of three levels of quinoa powder on guinea pig feeding for the growth and fattening stages. The study was carried out in the Tacachira community, district 11 of the municipality of El Alto. 54 type I mixed-race guinea pigs were used (27 males and 27 females), which were distributed in six treatments with three repetitions and three guinea pigs per repetition. The experimental model used was the completely randomized design, with a factorial arrangement considering sex and quinoa dust levels as study factors. The variables evaluated were: live weight (84 days old), average weekly gain, total food consumption, concentrate consumption, food conversion index, and carcass yield, in addition to an economic analysis. The results showed that there are significant differences for the variables live weight, average weekly gain and feed conversion index. For the variables feed consumption and carcass yield there were no significant differences, but there were minimal numerical differences. As for the economic analysis, the treatment "20% quinoa dust" presented better return rate and higher profit with 0.22 USD for each 1.00 USD invested in production. When analyzing the results, it is concluded that applying a level of 20 % quinoa powder in the guinea pig ration for feeding, an average of 759.3 g of live weight was achieved in 56 days of evaluation in relation to 735.6 g with 10 % and 718.4 g in the control treatment (0 % of PQ), therefore, this level applied, according to the study, allows obtaining 40.9 g more as a final result.