The effect of supplementary and fertilizer sulphur on voluntary intake, digestibility, retention time in the rumen, and site of digestion of pangola grass in sheep

1974 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Rees ◽  
D. J. Minson ◽  
F. W. Smith

SUMMARYPangola grass grown with and without sulphur fertilizer was cut as a 7-week regrowth to measure voluntary intake and digestibility by sheep. To determine the extent of a simple sulphur deficiency half the sheep on each feed were supplemented with 0·6 gsulphur daily. Retention time of feed in the reticulo-rumen and proportion of feed digested anterior to the duodenum was also determined.Sulphur fertilizer increased the sulphur content of the pasture from 0·09 to 0·15%, voluntary intake of dry matter from 44·4 to 64·1 g/kg W0·75/day and dry-matter digestibility from 55·2 to 60·2%. Sulphur fertilizer reduced the retention time in the reticulo-rumen by 16% and increased the extent of dry-matter digestion before the duodenum from 13 to 34%.Feeding a sulphur supplement increased dry-matter digestibility of the low sulphur feed to that found with sulphur fertilized pangola grass but only accounted for 63% of the difference in voluntary intake.It was concluded that fertilizer sulphur leads to large increases in both voluntary intake and digestibility of sulphur deficient grass and that the improvement in nutritive value may be more than can be achieved by feeding a sulphur supplement.

1973 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. PELLETIER ◽  
E. DONEFER

Three yearling Cheviot × Suffolk ewes and three Columbia wethers were confined in metabolic cages and fed ad libitum fresh and dried marrow-stem kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala D.C.) harvested in mid- and late October. Chemical analyses of the forages indicated no marked effects on any of the plant constituents due to drying or advancing maturity. Digestibility measurements demonstrated that marrow-stem kale (MSK) was a highly digestible material with an average dry matter digestibility of 78%. The fresh forages had higher (P < 0.05) dry matter and gross energy digestibility values than the dried form. Dry matter digestibility coefficients were higher (P < 0.05) for late October as compared with the earlier harvest. A trend toward higher (P > 0.05) voluntary intake values due to drying maturity was observed with an average relative intake of 80%. The nutritive value index averaged 65, thus indicating a digestible energy intake similar to a high-quality (legume) forage.


1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Masaoka ◽  
JR Wilson ◽  
JB Hacker

Comparisons were made of the dry matter digestibility (DMD) and yield of plant fractions harvested from long-established swards of 6 genotypes of Digitaria milanjiana selected from 3 F1 families for high and low leaf digestibility, and D. eriantha ssp. pentzii (pangola grass). Defined leaf blade, sheath and stem internode fractions were collected at different sward development stages and analysed for DMD, chemical composition, and tissue morphological and anatomical characteristics. The leaf blade of each high-digestibility genotype was consistently superior (1.9-4.5 percentage units) in DMD to that of its low digestibility counterpart, and to pangola grass, at both vegetative and reproductive -- stages. For leaf sheath and stem, the superiority in DMD of the high digestibility group was not evident or was less pronounced. The high DMD selections had green leaf dry matter yields comparable to those of the low DMD group but higher than those of pangola grass. The gain in DMD for leaf blade of the high over the low digestibility selection was consistently correlated with a decrease in cell wall content, acid detergent fibre or lignin, and poorly correlated with other chemical and leaf morphological characteristics. High and low DMD genotypes did not differ in the proportion of cell types in leaf or stem, or in other measured anatomical characteristics.


1970 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Haggar ◽  
M. B. Ahmed

SUMMARYTwenty-seven sheep feeding trials were carried out on freshly cut Andropogon gayanus, fed daily during three wet seasons, 1966–8.In each year, dry-matter voluntary intake and digestibility were highest during the first part of the growing season and declined with advancing maturity of the herbage. However, at the time of ear emergence in early October, there were small increases in voluntary intake of dry-matter and crude protein digestibility, although further decreases followed after mid-October.Determinations of in vitro digestibility indicated that elongating stems during early October were at least as digestible as leaves.Seasonal changes in crude protein digestibility were much greater than changes in dry-matter digestibility; seasonal changes in feed intake were intermediate. Voluntary feed intake was related to dry-matter digestibility.Voluntary feed intake and digestible crude protein were both closely related to the crude protein content of the forage. It was concluded that crude protein is a useful criterion for predicting nutritive value.


1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (54) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Minson

The digestibility and voluntary intake of Chloris gayana, Digitaria decumbens, Panicimum maximum var tricboglume, Paspalm dilatatum, Pennisetm Clanhtinum, and Setaria splendih were measured with sheep in metabolism pens. All grasses were grown under the same conditions and cut at the same time. Each grass was cut after growing for 28, 70, and 98 days in the summer and then again (except for P. dilatatum) after 42, 70, and 105 days in the following autumn. Four successive 28-day regrowths of each grass (two cuts only for P. dilatatum) were also harvested during the summer. All 55 cuts were artificially dried and fed at the same time, each cut being fed to eight sheep. Differences in dry matter and organic matter digestibility between grass species were relatively small with a maximum mean difference of six digestibility units between S. splendida and P. clandestinzrm. For the 28-day regrowths S. splendida was 5.1 digestibility units higher but with the more mature regrowths the difference was 6.8 digestibility units. The mean voluntary intake of dry matter of S. splendida and P. clandestinum was 9 and 11 per cent lower than that of D. decmbens (P<0.01) with the largest differences in voluntary intake between grasses occurring at the mature stages of growth. Large differences were found between grass species in both the slope and intercept of regressions relating voluntary intake to dry matter digestibility.


1978 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Rees ◽  
D. J. Minson

1. Pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens) was grown with or without sulphur fertilizer, cut at seven stages of growth, dried and given to sheep with or without a supplement of 0.6 g S as sodium sulphate/d. Voluntary intake and digestibility of dry matter (dm) and retention time in the reticulo-rumen, of various components of the grasses were determined.2. Grass grown on the S-fertilized plots had a mean S content of 1.57 g/kg dm compared with 1.03 g/kg dm for the control but there was no difference in the level of other elements. S fertilizer increased the level of acid-detergent fibre and lignin.3. In the absence of a S supplement, fertilizer S increased voluntary intake by 10.5%, dm digestibility by 0.008 and reduced the period food dm was retained in the reticulo-rumen by 18.5%. Fertilizer S had no effect on rumen pH or volatile fatty acid concentration in rumen fluid, but decreased the molar proportions of propionic and butyric acids and increased those of acetic, isobutyric, isovaleric and caproic acids.4. Supplementary S had little effect on the voluntary intake and dm digestibility of the S-fertilized grass but increased the voluntary intake and dm digestibility of the control grass by 22% and 0.036 respectively (P < 0.01). Thus the voluntary intake and dm digestibility of S-fertilized grass was lower than that of the control grass when the determinations were made with sheep supplemented with S.5. It was concluded that S fertilizer increased nutritive value by overcoming a simple S deficiency in the diet when diets contained less than 1.7 to 1.8 g S/kg dm but this benefit was offset by a decrease in the content of digestible neutral-detergent solubles and an increase in the lignin content of the food.


1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 875 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Laredo ◽  
DJ Minson

Chloris gayana, Digitaria decumbens, Panicum maximum, Pennisetum clandestinum, and Setaria splendida were each cut at three stages of growth, dried, chaffed, and separated into "leaf" and "stem" fractions using a gravity separator. The mean purity of the leaf and stem fractions were 78 and 93%. Each fraction was fed to eight sheep to determine voluntary intake and dry matter digestibility. Mean voluntary intake of leaf was 46% higher than that of stem (57.7 v. 39.6 g/kg0.75), despite a slightly lower dry matter digestibility of the leaf fraction (52.6 v. 55.8%). The higher intake of the leaf fraction was associated (r =0.74, P< 0.01) with a shorter retention time of dry matter in the reticulo-rumen (mean 23.8 v. 31.8 hr), which appeared to be caused by the large surface of the leaf fraction initially available to bacterial degradation (mean 128 v. 41 sq cm/g). Ground leaf and stem samples showed no difference in rate of digestion in vitro since structural differences had been destroyed. The energy required to grind 1 g sample in a laboratory mill was less for leaf than stem (mean 234 v. 411 J/g) with a significant correlation between voluntary intake and grinding energy (r = –0.81). In the past a high voluntary intake has been attributed to a high bulk density, but in this study bulk density of the stem fraction was three times that of the leaf fraction and negatively correlated with voluntary intake (r = –0.70, P< 0,001). It was concluded that different plant fractions may be eaten in different quantities, despite similar dry matter digestibilities, and that in any study of the voluntary intake of roughages it is necessary to determine physical properties of the feed in addition to chemical composition.


1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (37) ◽  
pp. 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Playne

Sheep were fed either Townsville lucerne (Stylosanthes humilis) or spear grass (Heteropogon contortus) with and without dicalcium phosphate for an 11-week period. Voluntary intake, dry matter digestibility and liveweight changes of the animals were measured. Sheep fed Townsville lucerne gained body weight whereas those fed spear grass lost weight. Added dicalcium phosphate (4.5 g/day) increased dry matter intake and liveweight gain of the sheep fed Townsville lucerne, but not the digestion coefficient. Sheep consuming spear grass did not respond in any way to the supplement. All sheep fed spear grass received urea daily (2.9g N/day) as a nitrogen supplement. The difference between the two groups in response to dicalcium phosphate is discussed in terms of the chemical composition of the two feeds.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-422
Author(s):  
Amoka Pius ◽  
Tawose O M

The nutritive value ,voluntary dry matter intake, and the nutrient digestibility of graded levels of Gmelina arborea and cassava peels concentrates in WAD sheep was investigated. Twelve WAD sheep aged 1-2 years old and weighting 14.00± 0.45 kg were used in a complete randomized design. Diets were formulated such that cassava peels was replaced with Gmelina arborea leaf meal at 0, 33.33, 66.67, 100% levels, designated as diets A, B, C, and D respectively. Diet without Gmelina arborea leaf meal was tagged the control diet. The concentrate feed was compounded to contain 16% CP. Diets with 33.33% inclusion level of Gmelina arborea had significantly (P<0.05) higher dry matter intake (DMI) 598.80g day-1, while the lowest DMI 425.00g day-1 was obtained in animals fed 100% inclusion level of Gmelina arborea. Crude protein intake (CPI) of animals fed diets with 33.33% inclusion levels of Gmelina arborea were significantly (P<0.05) highest, followed by 66.67% inclusion level and the least was observed in 0% inclusion level of Gmelina arborea. Dry matter digestibility (DMD) was significantly (P<0.05) different across the dietary treatments, animals placed on diets with 33.33% inclusion level had the highest DMD, followed by animals on diets with 66.67, 100 and 0% inclusion levels. CP digestibility (P<0.05) increased from 33.33% to 100% inclusion levels of Gmelina arborea leaf meal, the lowest CP digestibility was observed at 0% inclusion level. CF digestibility (P<0.05) increased from 33.33% to 100% inclusion levels of Gmelina arborea leaf meal, while the lowest CF digestibility was observed at 0% inclusion level. N intake increased significantly (P<0.05) with increase in the level of Gmelina arborea inclusion from 33.33% to 100%. N retention was significantly (P<0.05) different, diets with 33.33% Gmelina arborea inclusion had the highest value (64.36g day-1) followed by 66.67%, 100% and the least (52.64g day-1) was at 0% inclusion level of Gmelina arborea.  N balance values also followed the same trend. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that the inclusion of Gmelina arborea leaf meal in WAD rams diet was well tolerated without adverse effect on acceptability, intake and nutrient digestibility, and inclusion level of 33.33% is hereby recommended in ruminants diet for optimum performance and productivity.


1988 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1121-1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. MASON ◽  
P. M. FLIPOT

Five timothy (Phleum pratense L.) cultivars, Clair, Champ, Milton, Climax and Bounty, were harvested at first flower stage during 2 consecutive years and in the regrowth for 1 yr. The forages were each offered as hay to 15 young rams to evaluate voluntary intake. Five animals were used to determine initial harvest dry matter digestibility. The cultivars varied significantly in voluntary intake at first flower stage. The highest intake (g kg−0.75 d−1) averaged for the years was obtained in the early cultivar Champ (65.9), which was 10% more than that of the medium-late cultivar Climax. The cultivars did not differ significantly in dry matter digestibility. In the regrowth, the relative intakes of the cultivars were essentially reversed from that of the initial harvest. The voluntary intake was substantially higher but the differences among forages were less marked. Climax regrowth voluntary intake was higher (P < 0.05) than all cultivars, except Bounty. A 15% range in digestible dry matter intake was present among cultivars. The ranking of the culivars for digestible dry matter was different than for dry matter yield. Key words: Timothy, Phleum pratense L., voluntary intake, dry matter digestibility


1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. TAIT ◽  
R. M. BEAMES ◽  
J. LITSKY

The digestibility of four types of grain screenings, No. 1 screenings, rapeseed screenings, mixed feed oats and refuse screenings was measured with pigs, rats and sheep. For the pig diets, hammermilled screenings replaced 60% of a complete basal diet, with the exception of the rapeseed screenings, where replacement level was 10% (hammermilled) and 20% (whole). Digestibility values were determined by difference. In the rat diets screenings were incorporated to provide 1.5 g N 100 g−1 dry matter (DM) and the biological value (BV) of the protein was also measured. In the sheep diets, all screenings except rapeseed were provided as the sole dietary component, with the No. 1 feed screenings and the mixed feed oats pelleted without prior grinding and the other screenings ground before pelleting. For rapeseed screenings, incorporation in the sheep diets was at a level of 30%. For No. 1 screenings, apparent digestibility of organic matter (OMD) and nitrogen (ND) for pigs was 82.3 and 83.2%, respectively; BV for rats was 77.4%, while OMD and ND for sheep was 73.9 and 72.7%, respectively. For rapeseed screenings, OMD and ND for pigs for the hammermilled screenings were 46.1 and 50.7%, respectively, and for the whole screenings were 30.3 and 11.5%, respectively. Biological value (rats) was 80.0%, while for sheep OMD and ND it was 63.9 and 77.4%, respectively. For mixed feed oats, OMD and ND for pigs were 63.8 and 82.6%, respectively; BV (rats) was 61.1% and OMD and ND for sheep were 64.2 and 73.4%, respectively. For refuse screenings, OMD and ND for pigs were 63.8 and 65.4%, respectively; BV (rats) was 83.8%, while OMD and ND for sheep were 59.9 and 65.3%, respectively. Number 1 feed screenings are of a high nutritive value and are suitable as a grain for both pigs and sheep. Unprocessed rapeseed screenings are unpalatable for pigs with both dry matter and protein poorly utilized. With sheep, pelleted rapeseed screenings are readily accepted, and the nitrogen is well digested. If mixed feed oats are ground, protein is well digested by both species although dry matter digestibility is low. Refuse screenings appear to be suitable only for ruminant diets. Key words: Grain, wheat, barley, oats, rapeseed, screenings


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