Effect of supplementing mature grass hay with dried Leucaena leaves on organic matter digestibility and voluntary intake by sheep

AbstractThe digestibility and voluntary intake of fibrous roughages and acorns was studied in six wild boar and five Meishan pigs. The neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) concentration of the diets ranged from 139 to 767 g/kg of the organic matter. Organic matter digestibility of acorns, mixed grass and wheat straw was higher in wild boar (P < 0·05) while voluntary food intake of the Meishan pigs was higher for mixed grass, hay and wheat straw (P < 0·05). Organic matter digestibility (P < 0·01) and NDF digestibility (P < 0·05) were both negatively related to NDF concentration of the diet. No relationship existed between voluntary food intake and NDF concentration of the diet. The apparent nitrogen (N) digestibility was positively related (P < 0·01) to dietary N while no relationship was found with dietary NDF. The negative effect of NDF on digestibility could only be partly explained by the lignin concentration of NDF. Much more important was the lower efficiency of the carbohydrate fermentation in the caecum and colon when compared with the direct absorption of glucose from the small intestine. It was estimated that digestible NDF at a maximum contributed proportionately 0·26 to the metabolizable energy intake of the animals. It was concluded that wild boar and domestic pigs should be able to maintain themselves on an all fresh grass diet when NDF concentration of the diet does not exceed about 550 g/kg and N concentration is not too low.

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A study on the effect of frequency of urea ingestion on the utilization of low quality roughage by steers

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9760308 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 16 (80) ◽

pp. 308 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

A Romero ◽

BD Siebert ◽

RM Murray

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Nitrogen Balance ◽

Rumen Fermentation ◽

Negative Nitrogen Balance ◽

Positive Nitrogen Balance ◽

Voluntary Intake ◽

Organic Matter Digestibility

Steers were fed a low quality roughage supplemented with 50 g urea day-1 administered at different frequencies. The effect of the different treatments was measured in terms of intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance and changes of some rumen fermentation measures in two different but complementary experiments. Utilization of the roughage was enhanced as the frequency of ingestion of urea increased. Organic matter digestibility was unaffected but voluntary intake was stimulated by all urea treatments. There was negative nitrogen balance in control animals but all treated were in positive nitrogen balance. However, the greatest retention was produced when urea was sprayed onto the ration. Possible reasons for the better utilization of urea as the frequency of ingestion spreads over the day are suggested by the results observed in the fermentation measures considered.

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The use of cell wall organic matter components and in vitro degradability characteristics to predict intake and digestibility of white clover for sheep

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.1071/ar9951111 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 46 (6) ◽

pp. 1111 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

KS Nandra ◽

VH Oddy ◽

JF Ayres ◽

PJ Nicholls ◽

B Langevad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Wall ◽

Organic Matter ◽

White Clover ◽

Good Precision ◽

Digestible Organic Matter ◽

Predictive Relations ◽

Voluntary Intake ◽

Organic Matter Digestibility

The relations of the laboratory measurement of cell wall organic matter (CWOM) components and of the in vitro degradability characteristics of CWOM with in vivo digestibility and voluntary intake for high quality white clover were investigated. The voluntary intake, apparent digestibility and apparent rumen retention time of CWOM of white clover harvested at various stages of maturity were measured in rumen-cannulated Merino wether sheep. The in vitro degradability characteristics of CWOM of these diets were also measured. This study has quantified strong predictive relations between structural fibre constituents or degradation parameters and both digestibility and intake for white clover. The CWOM, cellulose and hemicellulose contents and potential degradability of CWOM of the white clover predicted in vivo organic matter digestibility with good precision (r2 = 0.74, 0.67, 0.72 and 0.72 respectively). The voluntary intakes of organic matter and digestible organic matter of the white clover were strongly related to CWOM, cellulose and hemicellulose contents and to the rate of degradation of CWOM in the rumen and the fits of these relations were at least as good as those predicting organic matter digestibility. The predictive equations based on CWOM: OMD (g/kg) = 97.6-0.081 (� 0.012) CWOM OMI (g/kg) = 83-0.085 (� 0.018) CWOM DOMI (g/kg) = 71.4-0.098 (� 0.015) CWOM are recommended because of the ease of analysis of CWOM in the laboratory.

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The effect of digestibility and forage species on the removal of digesta from the rumen and the voluntary intake of hay by sheep

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1079/bjn19860126 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 463-476 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

E. M. Aitchison ◽

M. Gill ◽

M. S. Dhanoa ◽

D. F. Osbourn

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Latin Square ◽

Live Weight ◽

Lag Phase ◽

Post Feeding ◽

Forage Species ◽

Grass Hay ◽

Voluntary Intake ◽

Pool Sizes

1. The characteristics of digestion, passage and rumen fill of three hays: early- and late-cut perennial ryegrass (Loliurn perenne cv. Endura) and white clover hay (Trifolium repens cv. Blanca and Pronitro) were studied using six rumen-cannulated sheep fed at a restricted level of intake (18 g dry matter (DM)/kg live weight (LW) per d), in a two 3 x 3 Latin square design.2. Voluntary intake of the same diets was measured using a further six non-cannulated sheep in a similar design.3. Rate of digestion of the three hays was measured using dacron bags and the rates of digestion of DM and neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) for clover hay were significantly (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001 respectively) faster than those for the two grass hays whose rates did not differ. Rates of passage, determined using chromium-mordanted hay, did not differ between treatments.4. Rumen pool sizes of DM, organic matter and fibre were generally greatest for the late-cut grass hay and lowest for the clover hay, while voluntary intake was highest (P < 0.001) for the clover hay (36.6 g DM/kg LW per d) and lowest for the late-cut grass hay (24.7 g/kg LW per d).5. The net rate of removal of indigestible fibre from the rumen appeared to vary within the day, with maximal disappearance occurring during eating, followed by a lag phase between 5 and 10 h after feeding, with a second increase in rate between 10 and 24 h post-feeding.

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The effect of the chemical composition of maize plant lignin on the digestibility of maize stalk in the rumen of cattle

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1079/bjn19730071 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Nadia F. Cymbaluk ◽

A. J. Gordon ◽

T. S. Neudoerffer

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Chemical Composition ◽

Lignin Content ◽

Ground Tissue ◽

Maize Silage ◽

Lignin Concentration ◽

Normal Maize ◽

Grass Hay ◽

Acid Detergent Fibre ◽

Organic Matter Digestibility

1. Digestibility of maize stalk from Troyer Reid (Tr) maize and its isogenic mutant (bm1) was studied by suspending nylon bags containing ground tissue in the rumen of a fistulated steer. The animal was given a grass hay–concentrate (5:3) diet or a maize silage–grass hay–concentrate (4:1:3) diet.2. The digestibility of the organic matter of the mutant maize stalk was greater than that of the normal maize stalk.3. Adaptation of the rumen to maize silage increased the organic-matter digestibility of the maize stalk.4. Lignin content was determined by two methods, namely organic matter insoluble in 72% sulphuric acid (method of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, 1960) (AOAC-lignin) and the organic matter lost from the ligno-cellulose complex (represented by acid-detergent fibre) by oxidation with potassium permanganate. The AOAC-lignin concentration was twice the permanganate-lignin concentration, but the amount of lignin estimated by both methods showed a significant negative relation to organic-matter digestibility. The AOAC-lignin concentration was greater in Tr than in bm1 maize but the permanganate-lignin concentration in Tr was slightly lower than in bm1.5. There was an irregular relationship between the amount of lignin extractable with dimethylformamide (DMF) and digestibility of organic matter due to the solution of some of the DMF-lignin during digestion. The loss of lignin was greater from the mutant maize stalk tissue than from the parent maize stalk tissue.6. The chemical composition of DMF-lignin determined by analysis showed a significant correlation between the syringealdehyde, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and vanillin concentrations, and digestibility of organic matter.7. Higher concentrations of both phenolic aldehydes and acids were found in the less digestible Tr material than in the bm1 stalk tissue.

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The effect of level of feeding on the digestibility of diets for sheep and cattle

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s0003356100026568 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 11-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

J. D. Leaver ◽

R. C. Campling ◽

W. Holmes

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Live Weight ◽

Crude Fibre ◽

Lactating Cows ◽

The Mean ◽

Ad Libitum ◽

Voluntary Intake ◽

Organic Matter Digestibility ◽

Linear Decline ◽

Male Sheep

SUMMARY1. In the first experiment, the digestibility of diets containing ratios of 1:1 and 1:4 hay to concentrates was determined at five levels of feeding in castrated male sheep. With diet 1.1, increasing the daily dry matter intake from 600 to 1400 g resulted in a linear decline in organic matter digestibility from 74·4 to 68·6%. The same increase in level of feeding led to a curvilinear decline in the organic matter digestibility of diet 1.4 from 83·0 to 75·9%.2. In a similar way the crude fibre digestibility of the diets declined as food intake increased. Also the increase in level of feeding caused a decrease in the mean retention time of stained hay in the alimentary tract.3. In a second experiment the digestibility of long dried grass offered ad libitum to eight dry and eight lactating cows was measured and compared with the digestibility of similar dried grass offered at maintenance level and ad libitum to eight castrated male sheep.4. On a metabolic live-weight basis (kg W0·73), the lactating cows ate 34% more organic matter than the dry cows and the mean voluntary intake of sheep was only 54% of the intake of dry cows.5. The organic matter digestibility for the dry cows was 1·9 units higher than that of the lactating cows and at ad libitum intake the organic matter digestibility for the sheep was 5·6 and 3·7 units lower than that of the dry and lactating cows respectively. The results are discussed in relation to the validity of extrapolating results obtained with sheep to cattle, and with non·lactating to lactating animals.

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A comparison of the voluntary intake and digestibility by beef cows of diets based on oat straw and supplemented with different forms of non-protein nitrogen

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s0003356100039544 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 135-141 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

G. Fishwick ◽

J. J. Parkins ◽

R. G. Hemingway ◽

N. S. Ritchie

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Beef Cows ◽

Protein Nitrogen ◽

Oat Straw ◽

Ad Libitum ◽

Voluntary Intake ◽

Organic Matter Digestibility

ABSTRACTPregnant beef cows were given 2 kg barley per day and oat strawad libitum. The digestibility of the organic matter of the diet was approximately 53% when urea included in the barley was given in one or four feeds per day. Supplementation of the barley with di-ureido isobutane improved the organic matter digestibility to 56·7%. When a solution containing urea, phosphorus, calcium and sodium was included in the straw the digestibility of the diet was 59·0%. These improved digestibilities were not associated with any differences in the concentrations of ammonia in the rumen liquor or blood of the cows.

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