The nutritive value of Calluna vulgaris II. A preliminary study of digestibility

1953 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Armstrong ◽  
Brynmor Thomas

1. Earlier work on the digestibility of Calluna vulgaris has been briefly reviewed.2. Determination of the digestibility of heather has been made by two methods, viz. (a) the conventional procedure involving the use of metabolism crates and (b) the lignin-ratio technique applied to tethered sheep.3. A diet consisting of heather alone, and fed in metabolism crates, proved unsatisfactory as a result of low feed intake. Agreement between duplicate sheep in respect of digestive capacity was also poor.4. Satisfactory feed intakes were attained when heather was admixed at levels of 40 and 70% with hay. At both levels the digestibility of the organic matter was approximately the same, and agreement between sheep was good except for crude protein.5. The lignin-ratio technique applied to tethered sheep gave digestibility coefficients for organic matter which were consistent with those obtained by the conventional method; the values for crude protein were somewhat higher. While the organic matter of 10-year-old heather was digested to about the same extent as that of 4-year-old heather, its crude protein digestibility was rather less.6. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods have been discussed; it has been concluded that the lignin-ratio technique is likely to play a useful part in future work of this kind.7. These preliminary results suggest that heather has a higher nutritive value than earlier work would indicate, and that even the winter foliage may compare favourably with hay of moderate to poor quality.

1954 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynmor Thomas ◽  
Allan N. Smith

1. The necessity for further information on the digestibility of heather, with particular reference to the effect of age, has been discussed.2. The digestibility of well-defined samples of heather of 4 and 10 years of age has been determined.3. Four-year-old Blackface wethers in crates were fed diets containing 50% of heather and 50% of medium-quality meadow hay.4. The younger sample of heather was found to have appreciably higher digestibility coefficients for all nutritive constituents other than crude fibre.5. Agreement between duplicate sheep in respect of their capacity to digest crude protein was found to be good, and faecal metabolic nitrogen outputs were similar.6. Faecal metabolic nitrogen output was inversely related to the percentage of heather contained in the diet. No relationship between faecal metabolic nitrogen and bulk, as measured on a basis of volume per unit weight, could be established.7. It has been concluded that heather, though inferior as a source of protein, provides rather more energy than a poor-quality meadow hay, and is thus of value as a winter feed.


1983 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Grenet

SUMMARYThe digestibility, the voluntary intake and the nitrogen balance of 108 diets corresponding to 94 silages prepared from 20 fresh crops were measured in growing sheep. Series of silages were made from the same fresh forage. Each series included two controls: a direct-cut silage without additive and a direct-cut silage with formic acid, with a variable number of experimental silages with different additives.Rumen ammonia concentration, measured on rumen-fistulated sheep, decreased when an additive was used. It increased with nitrogen intake and was inversely related to the organic-matter digestibility and the crude-fibre digestibility. It varied with the silage composition.The crude-protein digestibility of direct-cut silages without additives was similar to or slightly higher than the crude-protein digestibility of the fresh crops. The addition of formic acid depressed the digestibility, but the addition of formaldehyde decreased it even more. The urinary nitrogen loss was higher for silages without additive than for the fresh crops and was decreased by the addition of formic acid. The addition of formaldehyde to formic acid had an additive effect.Retained nitrogen was lower in silages without additives (12% of nitrogen intake) than in parent crops (15·7%). It increased when formic acid (15·8%) was added. The addition of formaldehyde at a low rate (1·5 l/t green fodder) to the formic acid did not increase the nitrogen retention whether expressed in g/day or as percentage of nitrogen intake, but the addition of formaldehyde at a high rate (3·5 l/t green fodder) to formic acid decreased nitrogen retention. The other additives based on cereals or whey did not improve the nitrogen balance compared with formic acid. Nitrogen retention differed according to plant species.Retained nitrogen increased with digestible organic-matter intake and nitrogen intake. It increased with the silage water-soluble carbohydrate content. The higher the silage fermentation product content (ammonia, lactic acid, propionic acid), the lower the retained nitrogen. It appears that the nitrogen value of silages can be high provided that the silages are well preserved and that excessive protein breakdown is avoided.


1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Thacker ◽  
G. L. Campbell ◽  
J. W. D. GrootWassink

Two experiments of a factorial design (sex × treatment) were conducted to determine the effects of enzyme and salinomycin supplementation on the nutritive value of barley or rye-based diets for growing pigs fed from approximately 20 to 85 kg. For exp. 1, 72 crossbred pigs were fed either a barley-based control diet or a similar diet supplemented with enzyme (Aspergillus niger; 750 units g−1 beta-glucanase and 650 units g−1 pentosanase), salinomycin (25 ppm) or both additives in combination. For exp. 2, two replicates of 48 pigs were fed either a barley-based diet, an unsupplemented rye-based diet or a rye-based diet supplemented with enzyme, salinomycin or both additives. During both experiments, chromic oxide (0.5%) was added to the diet of four to six pigs/treatment to act as a digestibility indicator starting when the pigs reached 42 kg. Neither enzyme nor salinomycin, alone or in combination, significantly improved the growth rate or feed efficiency of pigs fed barley or rye. Supplementation of barley with the combination of additives significantly (P < 0.05) improved protein digestibility while neither enzyme nor salinomycin had any effect on nutrient digestibility when fed alone. In rye-based diets, salinomycin, both alone and in combination, significantly (P < 0.05) improved the digestibility of crude protein and energy. Dry matter digestibility of the rye-based diets was unaffected by treatment. Key words: Swine, rye, barley, beta-glucanase, pentosanase, salinomycin


1984 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-238
Author(s):  
Matti Näsi

In two digestibility and balance trials with growing pigs, whey protein concentrate (WPC) was compared as a protein supplement with casein (CAS) and dried skim milk (DSM), and, 30 % lactose (40 % dried whey, DW) was compared as a sugar supplement with the same amounts of hydrolysed lactose (HYLA) and sucrose (SUC). The effects of these supplements on protein and mineral metabolism of the pigs were investigated, WPC contained 42.2 % crude protein and had a high content of lysine, 8.6 g, and sulphur containing amino acids: cystine 2.8 and methionine 2.2g/16 g N, These exceeded the values for DSM. The hydrolysing degree of the enzymatically treated lactose syrup was 73 %. WPC had high crude protein digestibility, 99.1 % as compared to 95.4 for CAS and 95.0 % for DSM. Dried whey had low crude protein digestibility, 72.5 %. The amino acids in the WPC diet were highly digestible, but low values were obtained for the DW diet. On the WPC diet, nitrogen retention was higher than with the other protein supplements (P > 0.05), urinary urea excretion was low and the biological value very high. On a combination of WPC and HYLA protein utilisation was higher than on dried whole whey. On the diets supplemented with different sugars, none of the blood parameters differed statistically significantly (P > 0.05) and all values lay within the reference range. Water intake was on average 49 % greater on diets with sugar supplements than without. Urinary excretion of reducing sugars averaged 40.2, 8.3 and 6.6 g/d on the HYLA, SUC and DW diets, while on the diets without sugar supplements the values were 0.8—1.2 g/d. The following mean daily mineral retention values were obtained: P 4.0 g, Ca 5,9 g. Mg 0,4 g, Na 1.9g, K 2.9 g, Fe 27 mg, Cu 6.4 mg, Zn 65 mg and Mn 4.0 mg. The surplus Na and K on the DW diet were excreted in the urine and the pigs did not have diarrhoea.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. NISSINEN ◽  
P. KALLIAINEN ◽  
L. JAUHIAINEN

The development of the yield and nutritive value of timothy (Phleum pratense L.) both in the primary growth and in the regrowth were studied at MTT Plant Production Research, a unit of MTT Agrifood Research Finland, in Rovaniemi (66°35´N) in 1999–2001. The dry matter yield and leaf:stem ratio were measured from the crop samples, and the contents of crude protein and organic matter digestibility of both whole plant samples and leaf and stem fractions were analysed. In primary growth, the most rapid increase of dry matter, 220–240 kg ha-1 per day, was measured around the beginning of the heading stage. There was a very strong positive correlation between the proportion of stems and the amount of dry matter in the primary yield. The daily growth rate of the regrowth was less than half of that of the primary growth. The fastest decrease, 1 percentage unit per day, in crude protein content was measured at the pasture stage (4–5-leaf stage). During the entire sampling period, the average daily decline in crude protein content in the primary growth of timothy was 0.65 percentage units. The main cause for the rapid decline in crude protein content was the high proportion of stem matter and its low protein content. In the regrowth, during the last four weeks before the harvest, the average daily decline in crude protein content was 0.28 percentage units.The average decline in organic matter digestibility from early pasture stage to late silage stage was 0.9 percentage units per day. The most remarkable change was noticed at the growth stage of timothy when about the half of stems were heading and it was then that the digestibility decreased by more than one percentage unit per day. The rapid decline in organic matter digestibility was due to the low digestibility of stem matter. The daily change in forage digestibility in the regrowth was very small, on average 0.11%.;


2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 233-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Towhidi ◽  
Farnoush Rostami ◽  
Reza Masoumi

In Iran, Javan (2001) has reported the digestibility some arid rangelands plants by bovine rumen liquor. The determination of in vivo digestibility of wheat straw implies that camel apparently digested poor quality roughages more than cattle and sheep (Cianci et al., 2004). Therefore, It is required to measure the in vitro digestibility of herbages by camel rumen liquor. In province of yazd, nutritive value of 11 different plant species for camel were determined (Towhidi, 2007). The objectives of the current study were to determine 1) the chemical composition, gross energy of the most consuming plant species from rangeland of Semnan province including Seidlitzia rosmarinu, Tamarix tetragyna, Tamarix strica, Halostachys spp, Saudea fruticosa., Alhagi camelorum, Haloxylon ammondendron., Salsola arbescola, Hammada salicornica and, 2) in vitro digestibility of the plants by camel rumen liquor.


1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-471
Author(s):  
R. M. TAIT ◽  
C. GASTON ◽  
J. R. HUNT ◽  
G. M. BARTON

Eight sheep were used in two 4 × 4 latin square digestion trials substituting alfalfa meal with unsteamed or steamed muka (foliage) at levels of 20, 40 or 60%. Including muka at all levels depressed (P < 0.05) the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and acid detergent fiber compared with the control alfalfa meal diet. When calculated by difference, the digestibility of muka dry matter and organic matter was not affected (P < 0.05) by either the level of its inclusion in the diets or by steaming. The mean dry matter and organic matter digestibilities of muka were 29.2 and 30.4%, respectively. The protein content of muka was 5.0% and the estimated protein digestibility at the 60% level of inclusion was only 6.6%. With unsteamed muka, the digestibility of acid detergent fiber calculated by difference averaged −11.9%, suggesting the presence of factors which depressed the digestibility of fiber in the basal diet. Steaming appeared to reduce this depression. A growth trial was conducted with lambs where alfalfa meal, as the sole roughage source, was compared to the same diet with 20% of the alfalfa replaced by steamed muka. Growth rates were not different (P > 0.05) being 142 and 138 g/day, respectively. A taste panel evaluation of the carcasses found no adverse effects on flavor due to the inclusion of steamed muka in the diet. Key words: Lodgepole pine muka, nutritive value, sheep


1969 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-437
Author(s):  
J. A. Yazman ◽  
J. A. Arroyo-Aguilú ◽  
R. E. McDowell ◽  
P. J. Van Soest ◽  
H. Cestero

Voluntary intake and apparent digestibility of an artificially dried tropical grass, Cynodon nlemfuensis variety nlemfuensis. was evaluated utilizing Holstein bull calves. Two regrowth ages of grass hays, 30 and 45 days, were fed to two groups of four calves each: 16 and 24 weeks old. The grass hays were analyzed for dry matter and crude protein and for fiber fractions according to Goering and Van Soest. There were no significant differences between means for voluntary intake (g/kg body weight (BW)/day) of the chemical constituents for the four calf-hay groups. However, the trend was for higher intake by the 24-week old calves fed the 30-day hay than by the other three groups. Among the 16- week old calves, there was a higher voluntary intake by those consuming the 45-day hay despite the slightly higher nutritive value of the 30-day hay. When the data were pooled across calf ages, voluntary intake of 30-day hays was greater than for the 45-day ones, although only differences in crude protein intake were significant (P < .05). Pooled across hay ages, voluntary intake by the 24-week old calves was significantly greater (P < .05) than by the 16-week old calves for dry matter and neutral-detergent fiber only, indicating that hay intake was related to reticulo-ruminal capacity. Differences in apparent digestibility were significant (P < .05) only for crude protein with the 24-week old calves fed the 30-day hay, having a greater coefficient of digestibility than the 16- and 24-week old calves fed the 45-day hay. Crude protein digestibility of the 30-day hays (pooled across calf ages) was significantly greater (P < .05) than that of the 45-day hays. Although not significant for all constituents, the values were higher for the 30-day hay than for the 45-day hay (pooled across calf ages) and for the 24- week old calves than for the 16-week old calves (pooled across hay ages).


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 1027-1033
Author(s):  
D.C. Martins ◽  
S.D.J. Villela ◽  
R.G. Almeida ◽  
S.A.C. Araújo ◽  
L.D. Silva ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The objective was to evaluate animal performance and nutritional characteristics of Brachiaria brizantha cv. BRS Piatã in two integrated systems, during the summer and winter, five years after the initial establishment of the area. The randomized block experimental design was adopted with treatments consisting of a control (five native trees per hectare) and an integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) system with 227 eucalyptus trees per hectare. Animal performance, canopy height, soil cover, forage mass (leaf, stem and senescent material), and forage nutritive value were evaluated. Differences between systems were observed in forage mass (total, leaf, stem and senescent material), soil cover and forage nutritive value in both seasons. Shading conditions provided by eucalyptus in the ICLF system lead to a reduction in forage mass and neutral detergent fiber content, and to an increase in crude protein and in vitro organic matter digestibility. However, no effect on animal performance was obtained. The presence of trees improves the forage nutritive value without impacting animal performance in integrated systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
A. A. TAIWO ◽  
E. A. ADEBOWALE ◽  
A. O. AKINSOYINU ◽  
J. F. D. GREENHALGH

Feedblocks, poultry manure diet, gliricidia: leucaena mixture (1:1 W/W) and maize offal diet were compared as sources of protein supplements for WAD sheep fed a basal diet of elephant grass hay (Pennisetum purpureum), through a 12-week performance and digestibility study. Dry matter and organic matter intakes (DMI, OMI) of the sheep were higher (P0.05) on the gliricidia: leucaena supplement than on the other diets. DMI on poultry manure and maize offal diets were not significant (P0.05). Organic matter intake (OMI) of the animals followed the same trend as DMI. Sheep fed legume supplements excelled in intakes of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and digestibilities of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) (P>0.05). Intakes of CP and ADF by sheep on the other supplements were not significantly different (P>0.05). Sheep fed on feedblock supplement consumed the least amount. (P0.05) of NDF. Variations were observed in DM,OM, and NDF digestibilities by sheep on maize offal, poultry manure and legumes supplements. Crude protein digestibility in the legumes and feedblocks supplements was higher (P0.05) than with the other two supplements. All the sheep used gained weights but those on maize offa' diet recorded higher (P0.05). weight gain (86.57g) than those on browse leaves (59.40g), feedblocks (47.80g) and poultry manure (40.44g). Rumen pH was lower (P<0.05) on the gliricidia: leucaena supplement than on other diets. Total VFA recorded for sheep on maize offal diet and legumes supplements was higher (P<0.05) than for the other two supplements. Blood urea nitrogen of the supplements were not significantly different (P>0.05) 


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