Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-04T09:38:19.171Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quantitative digestion of fresh herbage by sheep: II. The sites of digestion of some nitrogenous constituents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. C. MacRae  and
M. J. Ulyatt
J. C. MacRae
Affiliation:
Applied Biochemistry Division, D.S.I.R., Palmerston North, New Zealand
M. J. Ulyatt
Affiliation:
Applied Biochemistry Division, D.S.I.R., Palmerston North, New Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Sheep prepared either with a rumen cannula, or with a rumen cannula plus re-entrant cannulae in the duodenum and ileum were fed fresh ‘Ruanui’ perennial ryegrass (R), ‘Manawa’ short rotation ryegrass (M) and white clover (C) at dry-matter intakes ranging from 450 to 1000 g/24 h. Paper impregnated with chromic oxide was given once daily via the rumen fistula as a marker.

Amounts of non-ammonia-nitrogen (NAN) entering and leaving the small intestine and nitrogen (N) excreted in the faeces were regressed against the intake of N for each sheep and these equations (all significant P < 0·05) were used to calculate the extent of digestion in the stomach, the small intestine and the large intestine at two levels of OM intake (500 and 800 g daily). Amino acid analyses of feed and digesta samples are also presented together with calculations of the apparent absorptions of individual amino acids from the small intestine.

At an intake of 500 g OM amounts of NAN entering the small intestine were significantly greater (P < 0·05) in sheep given M than in sheep given R or C. At an intake of 800 g OM amounts in sheep given M were significantly greater (P < 0·01) than in sheep given R. NAN leaving the small intestine and N excreted in the faeces were similar for all three diets.

At an intake of 800 g OM apparent absorptions of NAN from the small intestine of sheep given M (0·47 × N intake + 2·8 g/24 h) and sheep given C (0·51 × N intake – 1·3 g/24 h) were significantly greater (P < 0·01 and P < 0·05 respectively) than of sheep given R (0·41 × N intake – 0·5 g/24 h). As intake of herbage was increased the partition of digestion altered.

Only small differences between herbages were found in the amino acid composition (g amino acid/100 g protein) of either duodenal or ileal digesta, but because of the large differences in the flows of NAN, the apparent absorptions of individual amino acids from the small intestine were much higher in sheep given M than in sheep given the other two species.

The results are discussed in the light of available information on sites of digestion of herbage diets in sheep.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , April 1974 , pp. 309 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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

Beever, D. E., Thomson, D. J. & Harrison, D. G. (1971). The effects of drying and the comminution of red clover on its subsequent digestion by sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 30, 86A.Google ScholarPubMed
Beever, D. E., Thomson, D. J., Pfeffer, E. & Armstrong, D. G. (1969). Effects of drying grass on sites of its digestion in sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 28, 26A.Google ScholarPubMed
Bryant, A. M. (1964). The release of plant cell contents and its relation to bloat. Proceedings of New Zealand Society of Animal Production 24, 57–66.Google Scholar
Bryant, A. M. (1971). The effect of freezing and thawing on the nutritive value of pasture herbage. In Research in N.Z. Department of Agriculture, Annual Report of Research Divisions 1970–71, p. 50.Google Scholar
Clarke, E. M. W., Ellinger, G. M. & Phillipson, A. T. (1966). The influence of diet on the nitrogenous components passing to the duodenum and through ileum of sheep. Proceedings of Royal Society B 166, 63–79.Google Scholar
Coelho, Da Silva J. F., Seeley, R. C., Beever, D. E., Prescot, J. H. D. & Armstrong, D. G. (1972). The effect in sheep of physical form and stage of growth on the sites of digestion of a dried grass. 2. Sites of nitrogen digestion. British Journal of Nutrition 28, 357–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, E. J. (1957). In Micro-diffusion Analysis and Volumetric Error, 4th ed.London: Lockwood.Google Scholar
Hogan, J. P. (1965). The digestion of food by the grazing sheep. III. The quantity of protein reaching the small intestine. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 16, 179–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, J. P. & Weston, R. H. (1967). The digestion of two diets of differing protein content but with similar capacity to sustain wool growth. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 18, 973–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, J. P. & Weston, R. H. (1969). The digestion of pasture plants by sheep. III. The digestion of forage oats varying in maturity and in the content of protein and soluble carbohydrate. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 20, 347–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, J. P., Weston, R. H. & Lindsay, J. R. (1969). The digestion of pasture plants by sheep. IV. The digestion of Phalaris tuberosa at different stages of maturity. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 20, 925–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, J. P. & Newth, R. P. (1967). Use of the comparative slaughter technique to estimate the nutritive value of pasture for hoggets. Proceedings of New Zealand Society of Animal Production 27, 166–80.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. (1961). In Digestive Physiology and Nutrition of the Ruminant, pp. 127–139. London: Butterworth.Google Scholar
MacRae, J. C. (1970). Changes in chemical composition of freeze-stored herbage. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 13, 45–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacRae, J. C. & Ulyatt, M. J. (1972). Partition of energy and nitrogen digestion in sheep fed fresh pasture species. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 31, 59A.Google Scholar
MacRae, J. C., Ulyatt, M. J., Pearce, P. D. & Hendtlass, J. (1972). Quantitative intestinal digestion of nitrogen in sheep given formaldehyde-treated and untreated casein supplements. British Journal of Nutrition 27, 39–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rattray, P. V. & Joyce, J. P. (1969). The utilization of perennial ryegrass and white clover by young sheep. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 29, 102–13.Google Scholar
Rose, W. C. (1938). Nutritive significance of the amino acids. Physiological Reviews 18, 109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J. (1971). Studies on the causes of the differences in pasture quality between perennial ryegrass, short-rotation ryegrass and white clover. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 14, 352–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J., Dellow, D. W., Egan, A. R. & Walker, D. J. (1973). Quantitative aspects of fermentation in the gastro-intestinal tract of sheep fed fresh herbage. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 33 (in the Press).Google Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J. & MacRae, J. C. (1971). The sites of digestion of fresh pasture species in the gastro-intestinal tracts of sheep. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 31, 74–81.Google Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J. & MacRae, J. C. (1974). Quantitative digestion of fresh herbage by sheep. I. Sites of digestion of organic matter, energy, readily fermentable carbohydrate, structural carbohydrate, organic acids and lipid. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 82, 295–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, R. H. & Hogan, J. P. (1968). Factors limiting the intake of feed by sheep. IV. The intake and digestion of mature ryegrass. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 19, 567–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, C. H., David, D. J. & Iismaa, O. (1962). The determination of chromic oxide in faeces samples by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 59, 381–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar