The digestibility and voluntary intake by sheep of six tropical grasses

1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (54) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Minson
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Stages Of Growth ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Digitaria Decumbens ◽  
Chloris Gayana ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
The Difference

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.

Effect of fertilizer nitrogen on digestibility and voluntary intake of Chloris gayana, Digitaria decumbens and Pennisetum clandestinum

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (61) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Minson
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Deficiency ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Pennisetum Clandestinum ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Digitaria Decumbens ◽  
Feeding Value ◽  
Chloris Gayana ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
High Level

On five occasions during the growing season Chloris gayana, Digitaria decumbens and Pennisetum clandestinum were fertilized with urea at 125 or 500 kg ha-1 and cut after one month's regrowth. The minimum nitrogen level in herbage was 0.96 per cent and hence voluntary intake of these feeds was not limited by a nitrogen deficiency per se. Fertilizing at the high level increased dry matter yield (P < 0.01) and depressed the leaf percentage significantly in C. gayana. Each cut was fed to ten wethers to determine digestibility and voluntary intake. The higher rate of nitrogen fertilizer increased the overall mean dry matter digestibility 2.2 per cent, organic matter digestibility 1.3 per cent and voluntary intake of dry matter 2.3 gWkg0.75 (P > 0.05). Within the harvests significant increases and decreases in digestibility and voluntary intake were found. The direction and magnitude of these changes in feeding value were not correlated with differences in yield, leaf percentage or nitrogen content.

Studies of cattle and sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. 1. The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time in the reticulo-rumen

1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
DP Poppi ◽  
DJ Minson ◽  
JH Ternouth
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Retention Time ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Digestive Efficiency ◽  
Mineral Supplement ◽  
Rhodes Grass ◽  
Digitaria Decumbens ◽  
Chloris Gayana ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
Cattle And Sheep

Pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens) and Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) were cut as 6 and 12 week regrowths, dried, chopped, and separated into leaf and stem fractions by using a gravity separator. Each of the eight diets was offered to four cattle and eight sheep fitted with a ruminal cannula to measure voluntary intake and digestibility of the dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF). Possible deficiencies of protein and minerals were minimized in this study by feeding casein and a mineral supplement. The total DM, OM and NDF contents of the rumeno-reticulum (rumen) were measured by manually emptying the rumen and the values used to estimate retention times of DM, OM and NDF. Cattle consumed 35% more leaf than stem fraction. Sheep consumed 21 % more leaf. When the daily voluntary intake was expressed as g/kg0.9 the intake was similar for cattle and sheep. The higher intake of the leaf fraction was associated with the shorter time that it was retained in the rumen of both cattle and sheep. Leaf and stem fractions were digested to the same extent by cattle. There was also no difference in the digestibility of leaf and stem fed to sheep. The digestive efficiency of sheep was 0.033 lower than that of cattle for both DM and NDF. Cattle retained all diets for longer periods in the rumen than did sheep. This difference was associated with the higher digestive efficiency of the cattle. It was concluded that both cattle and sheep consumed more leaf than stem fractions of grasses, and that the higher intake of leaf was associated with the shorter time that it was retained in the rumen and not by differences in digestibility as such.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IN VITRO DIGESTIBILITY AND FINENESS OF SUBSTRATE GRIND AS AN INDICATOR OF VOLUNTARY INTAKE OF HAY BY SHEEP

1969 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
J. E. Troelsen ◽  
J. M. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
In Vitro Digestibility ◽  
Fine Grinding ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Alfalfa Varieties ◽  
Relationship Of

Hay of two alfalfa varieties and four grass species harvested at six maturity stages each was fed to sheep. Voluntary intakes were measured in grams of dry matter daily per kg of metabolic size. Samples were ground coarsely and finely and digested in vitro. Fine grinding did not increase the digestibility of immature hay, but with advancing maturity the fine substrate was progressively more digestible than the coarse. This difference was inversely related (P < 0.05) to voluntary feed intake. The regression of voluntary intake of dry matter (g/day/kg0.75 body weight) on the difference of in vitro digestibility of organic matter in finely and coarsely ground substrate was −2.32 g in the alfalfa hay and −4.18 g in the grass hay. The coefficient of variation from regression was 14% in the alfalfa and 17% in the grass hays. Fine grinding had a greater effect on the in vitro digestibility of organic matter than of dry matter. This resulted in a higher significance of the relationship of intake with the effect of grinding on the digestibility of organic matter than on that of dry matter.

The voluntary intake, digestibility, and retention time by sheep of leaf and stem fractions of five grasses

1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 875 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Laredo ◽  
DJ Minson
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Density ◽  
Retention Time ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Bacterial Degradation ◽  
Panicum Maximum ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Digitaria Decumbens ◽  
Chloris Gayana ◽  
Voluntary Intake

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.

Digestibility and voluntary intake by sheep of five Digitaria species

1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (127) ◽  
pp. 494 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Minson
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Stages Of Growth ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Acid Detergent Fibre ◽  
Voluntary Intake

Data are reported on the voluntary intake and digestibility by sheep of five species of Digitaria when grown as swards, cut at five different stages of growth and analysed for neutraldetergent solubles, hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, N, S, Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, Si, Cu, Mn, and Zn. Digitaria setivalva was superior to the other four species in in vivo digestibility of the dry matter, organic matter and energy (5.2 percentage units), content of metabolizable energy (5.3%), voluntary intake of dry matter (8 0%) and voluntary intake of metabolizable energy (18.1 %). This superiority was associated with a higher content of digestible neutral-detergent solubles and cellulose. The metabolizable energy contents of the grasses were significantly correlated with dry matter digestibility and organic matter digestibility, content of digestible dry matter and concentrations of crude protein, neutral-detergent fibre, acid-detergent fibre, lignin and combinations of these different fractions.

scholarly journals Feed Value of Barn-Dried Hays from Permanent Grassland: A Comparison with Fresh Forage

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donato Andueza ◽  
Fabienne Picard ◽  
Philippe Pradel ◽  
Katerina Theodoridou
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Growth Cycle ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Feeding Method ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Feed Value ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
Winter Diets

In mountain areas, hays are the main forage in winter diets for livestock. Barn-dried hays can be an alternative to traditional hays, which are generally characterized by a low feed value. The aim of this study was to compare the feed value of barn-dried hays with that of the fresh forage from a permanent meadow. The study was carried out over three periods during the first growth cycle of the meadow’s vegetation (from 30 May to 3 June, from 13 to 17 June, and from 27 June to 1 July). Fresh forage and barn-dried hays of the same fresh forages were tested for dry matter digestibility (DMD), organic matter digestibility (OMD), and voluntary intake (VI). Both types of forage obtained each period were tested with an interval of 15 days. Chemical composition and OMD of forages did not change (p > 0.05) according to the feeding method. However, the DMD values for barn-dried hays were higher (p < 0.05) than for fresh forages at the end of the cycle. VI and digestible organic matter intake of barn-dried hays were higher (p < 0.05) than that of fresh forages. In conclusion, barn-dried hays obtained from permanent grasslands presented a higher feed value than fresh forages.

The voluntary intake and digestibility of diets containing different proportions of legume and mature Pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens)

1967 ◽  
Vol 7 (29) ◽  
pp. 546 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Minson ◽  
R Milford
Keyword(s):  
White Clover ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Protein Deficiency ◽  
Direct Proportion ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Digitaria Decumbens ◽  
Direct Replacement ◽  
Voluntary Intake

Three experiments were conducted with sheep fed ad lib. Digitaria decumbens Stent. (Pangola grass) containing 4.4 per cent crude protein (C.P.) (experiment I), and 3.7 per cent C.P. (experiments 2, 3) and supplemented with 0, 100, 200, 400 g/day lucerne (experiments 1 and 2) and white clover (experiment 3). Both legumes were also fed ad lib. with no grass. 546 The voluntary intake of the grass in experiment 1 decreased at all levels of legume feeding. In experiment 2 the voluntary intake of the grass was increased from 607 to 844 when 200 g of legume was fed, and in experiment 3 from 653 to 843 when 100 g of legume was fed, When the voluntary intake of the grass was not limited by a crude protein deficiency, the legume had a direct replacement effect causing a depression in the voluntary intake of the Pangola grass. The dry matter digestibility increased in direct proportion to the legume percentage of the ration.

The effect of pregnancy in heifers on voluntary intake, total rumen contents, digestibility and rate of passage

1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (40) ◽  
pp. 493 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Lamberth
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Food Particles ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Sorghum Silage ◽  
Voluntary Food Intake

In two experiments using twin heifers with one of each pair pregnant, the effect of advanced pregnancy on the voluntary food intake, dry matter digestibility and rate of passage of food residues, was studied. In the first experiment sorghum silage was fed ad lib. In the second experiment lucerne chaff was fed at ad lib. and restricted levels and, in addition to the measurements listed above, the quantity of reticulo-rumen contents was determined in each animal. In both experiments each of the pregnant heifers ate less than their non-pregnant CO-twins, and, on analysis of all the data on ad lib. feeding, the differences were significant (P<0.01). The mean coefficients of dry matter digestibility for the pregnant heifers were significantly (P<0.01) less than those for non-pregnant heifers. This caused a significantly (P<0.01) lower intake of digestible dry matter by the pregnant heifers. Measurements of the contents of the reticulo-rumen and the rate of passage of food particles gave inconclusive results. These experiments demonstrated that there was a depression of voluntary intake in late pregnancy the cause of which is not known. This would be nutritionally significant only when the quality and voluntary intake of food were marginal.

The effect of dried grass and cereal-based concentrate on the voluntary intake of unwilted grass silage

1977 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. McIlmoyle ◽  
J. C. Murdoch
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Latin Square ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Crude Fibre ◽  
Concentrate Supplementation ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Different Levels

SUMMARYTwo 7 × 7 Latin square experiments were carried out with British Friesian steers (mean initial live weight 360 kg). In Experiment 1 the effects of different levels of dried grass or concentrate on the intake of silage dry matter (DM) were compared, and in Experiment 2 the effect of a supplement containing various proportions of dried grass: concentrate on the intake of silage DM was examined. In both experiments the digestibility of the ration and the rate of passage of digesta were measured.In Experiment 1, supplementation depressed intake of silage DM, the difference being significant (P<0·05) at 5·0 and 7·5 kg/day, but there were no significant differences in silage intake between supplements given at the same level. Intake of silage was also significantly lower (P<0·05) in Experiment 2 when a supplement was offered, but differences between supplements were not significant. Total DM intake was increased significantly (P<00·5) by supplementation in both experiments. Supplementation increased energy digestibility but decreased crude fibre digestibility. In Experiment 1 nitrogen digestibility was significantly lower (P<0·05) with dried grass than with concentrate supplementation, but in Experiment 2 supplementation increased the digestibility of nitrogen. In both experiments the mean retention time was shorter, the time for the highest rate of excretion of stained particles was lower, and the maximum rate of excretion higher for dried grass than for silage.

scholarly journals The effect of pelleting on the voluntary intake and digestibility of leaf and stem fractions of three grasses

1975 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Laredo ◽  
D. J. Minson
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Retention Time ◽  
Mineral Supplement ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Digitaria Decumbens ◽  
Acid Detergent Fibre ◽  
Chemical Factors ◽  
Chloris Gayana ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
Lower Bulk Density

1. Leaf is eaten in greater quantities than stem of similar digestibility. To determine whether this difference is caused by physical or chemical factors, leaf and stem fractions from Digitaria decumbens, Chloris gayana and Setaria splendida were fed ad lib. to sheep in the chopped and pelleted forms. Pellets were made from leaf and stem which had been ground through a screen with 3 mm holes. All sheep received a protein and mineral supplement2. Voluntary intake of chopped leaf was 34% higher than that of the chopped stem fraction (40·3 and 30·0 g/kg body-weight0·75 respectively, P < 0·01) although dry matter digestibility ratios were similar (0·478 and 0·450 respectively, P > 0·05). The higher intake of leaf was associated with a larger surface area (13400 and 5200 mm2/g for chopped leaf and stem respectively), lower bulk density (60 and 180 kg/m3 respectively) and lower neutral-detergent fibre (706 and 724 g/kg respectively), acid-detergent fibre (383 and 413 g/kg respectively) and lignin (42 and 59 g/kg respectively) contents. Chopped leaf was retained in the reticulo-rumen for a shorter time than the stem fraction (19·9 and 26·4 h respectively)3. Grinding and pelleting increased the voluntary intake of the leaf fraction by 88% and the stem fraction by 60%. This increased voluntary intake caused by grinding and pelleting was not accompanied by any significant changes in the chemical composition of the diet. Grinding and pelleting reduced the time that the food was retained in the reticulo-rumen and this change appeared sufficient to account for the observed increases in voluntary intake4. It was concluded that the higher intake of the leaf fraction of grasses is caused by differences in retention time of food in the reticulo-rumen. These differences in retention time are caused by differences in physical properties and not chemical composition.

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