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The in vitro digestion of mature grass hay in the presence or absence of added nitrogen and sugar beet pulp by an equine faecal inoculum using the pressure transducer technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

M.J.S. Moore-Colyer
Affiliation:
Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, SY 23 3 AL
A.C. Longland
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Wales, SY 23 3 EB
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Extract

Traditionally, grass hay fed to horses is low in crude protein (CP) and is unable to meet the animal’s nitrogen requirements. This necessitates the provision of a supplemental source of additional nitrogen (N). Sugar beet pulp (SB), which contains ca. 100g CP/kg DM and has the potential to fulfil this role. Previous work has indicated that SB CP is poorly digested in the small intestine of the horse, with the majority reaching the hindgut, where it is readily degraded by the microflora (Moore-Colyer, 2000). This experiment sought to determine the effect of added SB and or additional N on the in vitro fermentation of hay by a faecal inoculum obtained from a pony fed commercially available chopped hay.

Type
Poster Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2001

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References

France, J., Dhanoa, M.S., Theodorou, M.K., Lister, S.J., Davies, D.R. and Isac, D. (1993) A model to interpret gas accumulation profiles associated with in vitro degradation of ruminant feeds. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 163: 99111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Moore-Colyer, M.J.S. (2000) Studies on the degradation kinetics of botanically diverse fibrous feeds and their apparent digestibility and rate of passage when fed to ponies. PhD Thesis. University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar