Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:57:11.453Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The voluntary intake and digestibility, in sheep, of chopped and pelleted Digitaria decumbens (pangola grass) following a late application of fertilizer nitrogen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

D. J. Minson
Affiliation:
Division of Tropical Pastures, CSIRO, Cooper Laboratory, Lawes, Queensland, 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.

1. Experiments were conducted with wether sheep in 1964 and 1965 fed pelleted or chopped mature Digitaria decubemes Stent (pangola grass) bay containing different crude protein contents. The voluntary intake of food, digestibility of dry matter and nitrogen, nitrogen retention and apparent time of retention of feed organic matter in the reticulo-rumen were measured. The different crude protein contents of the grass were obtained by applications of urea to the sward 14 and 28 days before cutting for hay in 1964 and 1965 respectively. This treatment increased the crude protein content of the dry matter from 4.9% to 8.7% in 1964 and from 3.7% to 7.2% in 1965. The size of the particles of the ground hay before pelleting is given.

2. The mean voluntary intake of chopped fertilized grass was 10% and 54% greater than that of the unfertilized; the voluntary intake of pellets made from fertilized grass was 35% and 75% greater than of those made from the unfertilized grass in 1964 and 1965 respectively.

3. The voluntary intake of pellets of unfertilized grass was 7% and 14% greater than that 30% greater than that of chopped fertilized grass in 1964 and 1965 respectively.

4. The digestibility of the pellets was less than that of the chopped grass.

5. The apparent digestibility of the feed nitrogen was increased by the fertilizer nitrogen, but grinding and pelleting had no consistent effect. Sheep eating chopped or pelleted fertilized hay were in positive nitrogen balance.

6. The apparent retention time of organic matter in the reticulo-rumen was longer when the sheep were eating chopped hay than when they were eating pellets. In 1964 the apparent retention time of organic matter in the reticulo-rumen was shorter for chopped and pelleted unfertilized grass than for chopped and pelleted fertilized grass, but in 1965 the order was reversed.

7. The relationship between voluntary intake, apparent retention time of organic matter in the rumen and the protein content of the food is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1967

References

Blaxter, K. L., Graham, N. McC. & Wainman, F. W. (1956). Br. J. Nutr. 10, 69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, W. W. & Sharpe, J. P. (1965). Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 5, 433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campling, R. C. & Freer, M. (1961). Proc. Nutr. Soc. 20, xvi.Google Scholar
Campling, R. C. & Freer, M. (1966). Br. J. Nutr. 20, 229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campling, R. C., Freer, M. & Balch, C. C. (1963). Br. J. Nutr. 17, 263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deriaz, R. E. (1961). J. Sci. Fd Agric. 12, 152.Google Scholar
Egan, A. R. (1965). Aust. J. agric. Res. 16, 473.Google Scholar
Ferguson, W. S. (1948). J. agric. Sci., Camb. 38, 33.Google Scholar
Foot, J. Z. (1964). Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 5, 328.Google Scholar
Heaney, D. P., Pigden, W. J., Minson, D. J. & Pritchard, G. I. (1963). J. Anim. Sci. 22, 752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kane, E. A. & Moore, L. A. (1961). J. Dairy Sci. 44, 1457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleiber, M. (1932). Hilgardia 6, 315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kretschmer, A. E. Jr. (1965). Agron. J. 57, 529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, I. W. (1948). Biochem. J. 42, 584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milford, R. (1960). Proc. int. Grassld. Congr. VIII,Reading, p. 474.Google Scholar
Milford, R. & Haydock, K. P. (1965). Aust. J. exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 5, 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milford, R. & Minson, D. J. (1965). Proc. int. Grassld Congr.IX,Sāo Paulo, Brazil. p. 815.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1963). J. Br. Grassld Soc. 18, 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1966). Br. J. Nutr. 20, 765.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. & Cowper, J. L. (1966). Br. J. Nutr. 20, 757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minson, D. J. & Pigden, W. J. (1961). J. Anim. Sci. 20, 962.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J., Raymond, W. F. & Harris, C. E. (1960). J. Br. Grassld Soc. 15, 174.Google Scholar
Poulton, B. R. & Woelfel, G. G. (1963). J. Dairy Sci. 46, 46.Google Scholar
Weston, R. H. (1959). Aust. J. agric. Res. 10, 865.Google Scholar