Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T19:01:54.293Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Resistance of leaf and stem fractions of tropical forage to chewing and passage in cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

M. N. Mcleod ,
P. M. Kennedy  and
D. J. Minson
M. N. Mcleod
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, Cunningham Laboratory, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4067, Australia
P. M. Kennedy
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, Cunningham Laboratory, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4067, Australia
D. J. Minson
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, Cunningham Laboratory, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4067, Australia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The voluntary intake (VI) of separated leaf and stem fractions of a grass and legume (Panicum maximum and Lablab purpureus respectively) was determined using Hereford steers fistulated at the rumen and oesophagus. VI of leaf fractions was higher than that of the stem fraction (8·23 ν. 3·67 kg/d, P < 0·001) while that for the legume diets was higher than for the grass diets (6·65 ν. 5·22 kg/d, P < 0·05). The total number of eating chews per day was higher on the leaf than stem fraction (1·6 × 104 ν. 9·8 × 103, P < 0·05). The mean number of rumination chews (2·4 × 104) was similar (P > 0·05) for all four diets. The mean resistance of large particles (LP, i.e. retained on a 1·18 mm sieve during wet sieving) to breakdown (chews per g LP breakdown) during eating was lower for leaf than stem fractions (8–4 ν 23·7) and lower for the grass than legume diets (10–5 ν 21·6). The mean resistance to breakdown of LP by rumination (chews per g LP breakdown) was lower in leaf than in stem fractions (8·2 ν. 13·2, P < 0·01) and higher in grass than in legume (12·5 ν 9·0, P < 0·05). The resistance of LP to breakdown during rumination was higher than during eating for the grass diets, but was lower for the legume. Fractional passage rates (FPR) of small particles (i.e. passing through a 1·18 mm sieve during wet sieving) from the reticulo-rumen were negatively related to dimensions of particles, with greater ease of outflow for legume than for grass particles of the same length or diameter. When corrected for content of cellulase-indigestible fibre, FPR of small particles of leaf was greater than for small stem particles. It was concluded that VI of tropical forages was associated with the resistance of LP to breakdown by chewing during both eating and rumination and that the patterns of escape of small particles from the reticulo-rumen were only partially explicable in terms of particle dimensions, and that other properties of the particles may be of importance.

Keywords

Chewing resistanceDigesta passageRuminant digestion
Type
Metabolism in Ruminants
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 105 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1990

References

REFERENCES

Bines, J.A. (1971). Metabolic and physical control of food intake in ruminants. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 30, 116–122.Google ScholarPubMed
Bourget, S.J. & Kemp, J.D. (1957). Wet sieving apparatus for stability analysis of soil aggregates. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 37, 60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, R.M. & Milligan, L.P. (1985). Removal of digesta components from the rumen of steers determined by sieving techniques and fluid, particulate and microbial markers. British Journal of Nutrition 53, 347–362.Google Scholar
Egan, J.K. & Doyle, P.T. (1985). Effect of intraruminal infusions of urea on the response in voluntary intake by sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 36, 483–495.Google Scholar
Gates, R.N., Klopfenstein, T.J., Waller, S.S., Stroup, W.W., Britton, R.A. & Anderson, B.F. (1987). Influence of thermo-ammoniation on quality of warm season grass hay for sheep. Journal of Animal Science 64, 1821–1834CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaney, D.P., Pigden, W.J., Minson, D.J. & Pritchard, G.I. (1963). Effect of pelleting on energy intake of sheep from forages cut at three stages of maturity. Journal of Animal Science 22, 752–757.Google Scholar
Hendricksen, R.E., Poppi, D.P. & Minson, D.J. (1981). The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time by cattle and sheep of stem and leaf fractions of a tropical legume (Lablab purpureus). Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 389–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooper, A.P. & Welch, J.G. (1985). Functional specific gravity of ground hay samples in ionic solutions. Journal of Dairy Science 68, 848–856.Google Scholar
Johnson, A.D. & Simons, J.G. (1972). Direct reading emission spectroscopic analysis of plant tissue using a briquetting technique. Communication in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 3, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laredo, M.A. & Minson, D.J. (1973). The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time by sheep of leaf and stem fractions of five grasses. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 24, 875–888.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, M.N. & Minson, D.J. (1978). The accuracy of the pepsin-cellulase technique for estimating the dry matter digestibility in vivo of grasses and legumes. Animal Feed Science and Technology 3, 277–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, M.N. & Minson, D.J. (1988). Large particle breakdown by cattle eating ryegrass and alfalfa. Journal of Animal Science 66, 992–999.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minson, D.J. (1966). The apparent retention of food in the reticulo-rumen at two levels of feeding by means of an hourly feeding technique. British Journal of Nutrition 20, 765–773.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minson, D.J. (1982). Effects of chemical and physical composition of herbage upon intake. In Nutritional Limits to Animal Production from Pastures, pp. 167–182 [Hacker, J.B., editor]. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Poppi, D.P., Hendrickson, R.E. & Minson, D.J. (1985). The relative resistance to escape of leaf and stem particles from the rumen of cattle and sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 105, 9–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poppi, D.P., Minson, D.J. & Ternouth, J.H. (1981a). Studies of cattle and sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. I. The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time in the reticulorumen. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poppi, D.P., Minson, D.J. & Ternouth, J.H. (1981b). Studies of cattle and sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. II. Factors controlling the retention of feed in the reticulorumen. Austrialian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 109–121.Google Scholar
Poppi, D.P., Minson, D.J. & Ternouth, J.H. (1981 c). Studies of cattle and sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. 111. The retention time in the rumen of large feed particles. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 123–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, R.G.D. & Torrie, J.H. (1980). Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach. New York: McGraw-HillGoogle Scholar
Stobbs, T.H. & Cowper, J.L. (1972). Automatic measurement of the jaw movements of dairy cows during grazing and rumination. Tropical Grasslands 6, 107–112.Google Scholar
Sutherland, T.M. (1988). Particle separation in the forestomachs of sheep. In Aspects of Digestive Physiology in Ruminants, pp. 43–73 [Dobson, A. and Dobson, M.J., editors]. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing Associated.Google Scholar
Troelsen, J.E. & Campbell, J.B. (1968). Voluntary consumption of forages by sheep and its relation to the size and shape of particles in the digestive tract. Animal Production 10, 289–296.Google Scholar
Udén, P., Collucci, P.E. & Van Soest, P.J. (1980). Investigation of chromium, cerium and cobalt as markers in digesta, rate of passage studies. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 31, 625–632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Soest, P.J. (1963). Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. II. A rapid method for the determination of fibre and lignin. Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 46, 829–835.Google Scholar
Van Soest, P.J. & Wine, R.H. (1967). Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. IV. Determination of plant cell-wall constituents.. Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 50, 50–55.Google Scholar
Welch, J.G. (1986). Physical parameters of fibre affecting passage from the rumen. Journal of Dairy Science 69, 2750–2754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weston, R.H. & Kennedy, P.M. (1984). Various aspects of reticulorumen digestive function in relation to diet and digesta particle size. In Techniques in Particle Size Analysis of Feed and Digesta in Ruminants, pp. 1–27 [Kennedy, P.M., editor]. Edmonton: Canadian Society of Animal Science.Google Scholar
Williams, C.H., David, D.J. & Iismaa, O. (1962). The determination of chromic oxide in faeces samples by atomic absorption spectrometry. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 59, 381–385.Google Scholar