Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:35:41.282Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A note on digestibility in sheep as influenced by level of intake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. B. Robertson
Affiliation:
Animal Science Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
P. J. Van Soest
Affiliation:
Animal Science Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
Get access

Summary

Digestibility of dry matter, energy and cell wall was measured in two series of digestibility trials in which sheep were fed on pelleted mixed rations containing either 32·0 or 22·6% cell wall at various levels of intake. There were significant depressions in digestibility of all nutritive components as the level of intake increased. The ration lower in cell wall showed smaller declines in dry matter and energy digestibility but a greater decline in cell wall digestibility. The results indicate that the cell wall fraction of concentrate-supplemented rations for sheep is a primary factor in the decline in digestibility observed with increase in level of intake.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council. 1965. The Nutrient Requirements of Farm Livestock. No. 2. Ruminants. Technical Reviews and Summaries. Agricultural Research Council, London.Google Scholar
Andersen, P. E., Reid, J. T., Anderson, M. J. and Stroud, J. W. 1959. Influence of level of intake upon the apparent digestibility of forages and mixed diets by ruminants. J. Anim. Sci. 18: 12991307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. 1961. The utilization of the energy of food by ruminants, Proc. 2nd Symposium on Energy Metabolism, Publ. Europ. Assoc. Anim. Prod. No. 10, pp. 211225.Google Scholar
Brown, L. D. 1966. Influence of intake on feed utilization. J. Dairy Sci. 49: 223230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fonnesbeck, P. V., Harris, L. E. and Kearl, L. C. 1974. Digestion of plant cell walls by animals. J. Anim. Sci. 39: 182 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Goering, H. K. and van Soest, P. J. 1970. Forage fiber analyses. Agricultural Handbook No. 379. A.R.S., United States Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Keys, J. E. Jr., Van soest, P. J. and Young, E. P. 1969. Comparative study of the digestibility of forage cellulose and hemicellulose in ruminants and non-ruminants. J. Anim. Sci. 29: 1115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, V. C. 1969. Some observations on the distribution and origin of nitrogen in sheep faeces. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 73: 99111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J. T. 1956. Some nutritional effects of varying concentrate-roughage ratios in relation to feed input-milk output by dairy cows. Memoir Cornell Univ. agric. Exp. Stn, No. 344.Google Scholar
Van Soest, P. J., Wine, R. H. and Moore, L. A. 1966. Estimation of the true digestibility of forages by the in vitro digestion of cell walls. Proc. × int. Grassld, Congr., Helsinki, pp. 438441.Google Scholar
Wagner, D. G. and Loosli, J. K. 1967. Studies on the energy requirements of high-producing dairy cows. Memoir Cornell Univ. agric. Exp. Stn, No. 400.Google Scholar
Webster, A. J. F., Brockway, J. M. and Smith, J. S. 1974. Prediction of the energy requirements for growth in beef cattle. 1. The irrelevance of fasting metabolism. Anim. Prod. 19: 127139.Google Scholar