In the present work, feed blocks used did not reduce total and alfalfa hay intake, suggesting the absence of substitution effect in agreement to Ben Salem who did not observe changes in the intake of straw by replacing a part or the concentrate with feed blocks
Overall, FB intakes were markedly low with ACB diet. The average daily intakes of FB in the present study varied depending on their composition from 144 to 203 g·goat−1·d−1, which is similar to intakes reported by Molina-Alcaide et al. (2009) in cannulated goats fed diets including FB based on crude 2-stage olive cake but less than reported by Ben Salem and Znaidi (2008) in lambs for which diets included tomato pulp and olive cake-based FB. The variability in block intakes in sheep and goats may rely on FB formulation and other factors such as animal physiological state or breed