Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T14:59:40.204Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The growth of young cattle fed on dried grass alone and with barley 2. Effects on digestion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

E. K. Poutiainen ,
C. R. Lonsdale  and
G. E. Outen
E. K. Poutiainen
Affiliation:
The Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Berkshire SL6 5LR
C. R. Lonsdale
Affiliation:
The Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Berkshire SL6 5LR
G. E. Outen
Affiliation:
The Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Berkshire SL6 5LR
Get access

Summary

1. Young cattle were fed on four types of wafer containing chopped or coarsely-milled dried grass, with or without 50% of barley.

2. At slaughter, the alimentary tract of each animal was removed and the contents of each part were weighed and sampled to determine the extent and site of digestion. Chromic oxide was used as an indigestible marker.

3. The form in which the grass was processed had no effect on any of the parameters measured.

4. The dry-matter content of the digesta in all parts of the alimentary tract was significantly higher when barley was included in the wafers. The inclusion of barley decreased the proportion of acetic acid and increased the proportion of butyric acid in the rumen liquor. The proportions of propionic and valeric acids were unaffected. Barley also appeared to reduce the proportion of digestible dry matter which disappeared in the forestomachs (31·44%) compared with that when grass was given alone (42·59%).

5. With grass alone about 70% of the apparently digestible cellulose disappeared from the forestomachs, but the technique used did not allow a good estimation of these proportions when mixed diets were given. The retention time of dry matter in the forestomachs was not affected by the diet but the inclusion of barley in the wafers increased the retention time of cellulose in the forestomachs.

6. Of 1·6·1·9 kg of starch ingested in mixed diets, 92-96% was apparently digested in the forestomachs, and only 80-130 g per day escaped rumen fermentation. The intake of starch on diets of grass alone was negligible and almost all the soluble sugars were digested in the forestomachs.

7. More N was recovered at the omasum than was ingested, but the different diets had no effect on the site of digestion of N.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , August 1971 , pp. 473 - 484
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1971

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

Armstrong, D. G. and Blaxter, K. L. 1957. The utilization of acetic, propionic and butyric acids by fattening sheep. Br. J. Nutr. 11: 413–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Badawy, A. M., Campbell, Rosa M., Cuthbertson, D. P., Fell, B. F. and MacKie, W. S. 1958. Further studies on the changing composition of the digesta along the alimentary tract of the sheep. 1. Total and non-protein nitrogen. Br. J. Nutr. 12: 384–390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balch, C. C. 1950. Factors affecting the utilization of food by dairy cows. 1. The rate of passage of food through the digestive tract. Br. J. Nutr. 4: 361–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balch, C. C. 1958. Digestion in the rumen. Outl. Agric. 2: 33–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balch, C. C. and Johnson, V. W. 1950. Factors affecting the utilization of food by dairy cows. 2. Factors influencing the rate of breakdown of cellulose (cotton thread) in the rumen of the cow. Br. J. Nutr. 4: 389–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beever, D. E. 1969. Sites of digestion in the adult sheep, of carbohydrates in forage and cereal diets. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Thomson, D. J., Pfeffer, E. and Armstrong, D. G. 1969. Effect of drying grass on sites of its digestion in sheep. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 28: 26–27A.Google ScholarPubMed
Blaxter, K. L. 1962. The Energy Metabolism of Ruminants, pp. 222–224. Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Corbett, J. L., Greenhalgh, J. F. D., Gwynn, P. E. and Walker, D. 1958. Excretion of chromium sesquioxide and polyethyleneglycol by dairy cows. Br. J. Nutr. 12: 266–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corbett, J. L., Greenhalgh, J. F. D., McDonald, I. and Florence, E. 1960. Excretion of chromium sesquioxide administered as a component of paper to sheep. Br. J. Nutr. 14: 289–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crampton, H. R. and Maynard, L. A. 1938. The relation of cellulose and lignin content to the nutritive value of animal feeds. J. Nutr. 15: 383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekern, A., Blaxter, K. L. and Sawers, D. 1965. The effect of artificially drying and of freezing on the energy value of pasture herbage. In Energy Metabolism (ed. Blaxter, K. L.), pp. 217–224. Academic Press, London and New York.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A. and Yates, F. 1967. Statistical Tables for Biological, Agricultural and Medical Research (6th ed.). Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Grassland Research Institute. 1961. Research techniques in use at G.R.I., Hurley. Bull. Commonw. Bur. Past. Fid Crops, No. 45.Google Scholar
Gray, F. V., Pilgrim, A. F. and Weller, R. A. 1958. The digestion of foodstuffs in the stomach of the sheep and the passage of digesta through its compartments. 1. Cellulose, pentosans and solids. Br. J. Nutr. 12: 404–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Head, M. J. 1953. The effect of quality and quantity of carbohydrates and protein in the ration of the sheep on the digestibility of cellulose and other constituents of the ration, with a note on the effect of adding vitamins of the B-complex on the digestibility and retention of the nutrients of a hay ration. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 43: 281–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, J. P. and Weston, R. H. 1967. The digestion of chopped and ground roughages by sheep. II. The digestion of nitrogen and some carbohydrate fractions in the stomach and intestines. Aust. J. agric. Res. 18: 803–817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogue, D. E., Elliot, J. M., Walker, E. and Vidal, H. 1968. Starch disappearance from the lower gut of lambs fed different hay-grain ratios. Proc. 2nd Wld Conf. Anim. Prod., Maryland, U.S.A. p. 456 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Hungate, R. E. 1966. The Rumen and its Microbes, p. 210. Academic Press, New York and London.Google Scholar
Karr, M. R., Little, C. O. and Mitchell, G. E. 1966. Starch disappearance from different segments of the digestive tract of steers. J.Anim. Sci. 25: 652–654.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lonsdale, C. R., Poutiainen, E. K. and Tayler, J. C. 1971. The growth of young cattle fed on dried grass alone and with barley. 1. Feed intake, digestibility and body gains. Anim. Prod. 13: 461–471.Google Scholar
Lonsdale, C. R. and Tayler, J. C. 1969. The effect of stage of maturity of artificially dried ryegrass and method of processing on the growth of young cattle. Anim. Prod. 11: 273 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
MacRae, J. C. and Armstrong, D. G. 1968. Enzyme method for determination of a-linked glucose polymers in biological materials. J. Sci. Fd Agric. 19: 578–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacRae, J. C. and Armstrong, D. G. 1969. Studies on intestinal digestion in the sheep. 2. Digestion of some carbohydrate constituents in hay, cereal and hay-cereal rations. Br. J. Nutr. 23: 377–387.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. Br. J. Nutr. 20: 765–773.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ørskov, E. R. and Fraser, C. 1968. Dietary factors influencing starch disappearance in various parts of the alimentary tract and caecal fermentation in early weaned lambs. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 27: 37–38A.Google Scholar
Outen, G. E. 1970. Determination of a-linked glucose polymer and soluble carbohydrates in feed and digesta samples. A. Rep. Grassld Res. Inst. 1969, p. 77.Google Scholar
Paloheimo, L. I. and Makela, A. 1952. The rate of passage of food in the digestive tract of ruminants. Maataloust. Aikakausk. 24: 165–168.Google Scholar
Salo, Maija-Lusa and Salmi, Marja 1968. Determination of starch by the amyloglucosidase method. Maataloust. Aikakausk. 40: 38–45.Google Scholar
Somogyi, I. M. 1945. A new reagent for the determination of sugars. J. biol. Chem. 160: 61–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, D. J. 1968. The utilization of herbage diets by growing sheep. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Reading.Google Scholar
Thomson, D. J., Armstrong, D. G. and Prescott, J. H. D. 1969. Influence of physical structure on the utilization of dried grass and silage. In Crop conservation and grassland. Proc. 3rd. Gen. Meet. Euro, Grassld Fed., Braunschweig.Google Scholar
Thomson, D. J., Beever, E. D., Coelho da silva, J. F. and Armstrong, D. G. 1969. Sites of digestion in sheep of a dried lucerne fed in three physical forms. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 28: 24–25A.Google Scholar
Van soest, P. J. 1965. Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. III. Study of the effect of heating and drying on yield of fibre and lignin in forages. J. Ass. off. agric. Chem. 48: 785–790.Google Scholar
Weiss, R. L., Baumgardt, B. R., Barr, G. R. and Brungardt, V.H. 1967. Some influences of rumen volatile fatty acids upon carcass composition and performance in growing and fattening steers. J. Anim. Sci. 26: 389–393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed