Effect of Methods of Processing on Digestibility and Utilization of Grain Sorghum by Cattle and Sheep

Abstract

Cattle and sheep were used to determine digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), nonprotein organic matter (NPOM), starch and reducing sugars (SRS), and energy, metabolizable energy, and nitrogen retention on diets containing steam-processed-rolled, reconstituted-rolled, coarsely-orfinely-ground grain sorghum. Six animals of each species were fed each diet, of which the grain sorghum constituted 78.3%, in two replicates, each involving three animals of each species. In one replicate animals were fed an energy level 150% of the calculated maintenance requirement while the others were fed 175%. The digestibilities of DM, OM, NPOM and energy in cattle were greater in diets containing the reconstituted product than for the finely- or coarsely-ground ones. Digestibility of NPOM in cattle was greater in the diet containing the steam-processed product than for the ground ones. No differences indigestibility were noted among the various processing treatments for sheep except the steam-processed product depressed (P<.01) nitrogen digestibility; however, nitrogen retentions did not differ. Sheep and cattle did not differ in the digestibility of reconstituted and steam-processed diets; however, sheep apparently digested ground grain sorghum better than cattle