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Prediction of ADF and NDF in faeces by NIRS to assess diet composition in grazing animals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

D. Cozzolino
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Agropecuaria. INIA La Estanzuela. Colonia- Uruguay. Ruta 50 – km 11. CC 70000.
A. La Manna
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Agropecuaria. INIA La Estanzuela. Colonia- Uruguay. Ruta 50 – km 11. CC 70000.
D. Vaz Martins
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Agropecuaria. INIA La Estanzuela. Colonia- Uruguay. Ruta 50 – km 11. CC 70000.
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Extract

Chemical analysis have been useful in characterising both nutrient content and digestibility of forages but less useful in predicting voluntary intake by animals (Ward et al., 1982). Faeces is the product of eroding and synthesising digestive processes and consists of residues of feed and plant tissue, component of microbial and animal origin, for this reasons faeces should contain information about the amount and characteristics of the diet. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is widely used to predict quality characteristics in forages and several reports (Lyons and Stuth, 1992; Leite and Stuth, 1995, Coates, 1999) indicated that useful prediction of dietary digestibility in grazing ruminants using faecal NIRS analysis. It is assumed for different authors that rangeland herbivore faeces contains chemical bonds resulting from undigested residues and microbial fermentation and host animal digestion end products which can provide NIRS spectral information highly correlated with dietary crude protein and digestibility (Lyons and Stuth, 1992). The objective of this work was to develop NIRS equation calibrations to estimate acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and nitrogen in faecal samples to be used as a tool to estimate diet composition in ruminant animals under grazing conditions.

Type
Poster Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2002

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References

Ward, R.G.; Smith, G.S.; Wallace, J.D.; Urquhart, N.S. and J.S., Shenk (1982). Estimates of intake and quality of grazed range forage by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. J. Anim. Sci.. 54: 399 – 402.Google Scholar
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Leite, E.R. and Stuth, J.W. (1995). Fecal NIRS equations to asses diet quality of free-ranging goats. Small Ruminant Research. 15: 223 – 230.Google Scholar
Coates, D.B. (1999). Faecal spectroscopy (NIRS) for nutritional profiling of grazing cattle. Proc. of the VI th International Rangeland Congress. Townsville, Queensland. Vol 1. 466 – 467.Google Scholar