Energy expenditure for chewing in sheep fed timothy or sudangrass hay at the same intake level

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn order to investigate the energy expended in chewing during eating and rumination in sheep fed timothy or sudangrass hay at the same intake level, the energy expenditure of the head was measured using the arterial‐venous difference technique and that of the whole body was measured using an open‐circuit, indirect respiration calorimeter. There was no difference in the per‐chew energy expenditure between timothy hay and sudangrass hay during eating and rumination, but for both types of hay there was a difference in energy expenditure between eating (0.25 J per chew per kilogram body weight) and rumination (0.18 J per chew per kilogram body weight). There was no effect of time period after feeding on the energy expended in one chew during eating and rumination. On average, for a given type of hay, the energy expended in chewing during eating + rumination accounted for 4.9% of the daily energy expenditure of the whole body.