Abstract
Nutrient in vivo digestibility in sheep and rumen dry matter degradability in cattle fed cereal strawand concentrate-based diets were determined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, a conventional in vivo balance trial was conducted with six Peul-peul sheep to evaluate apparent digestibility of 3 diets.Diet 1 consisted of (g/kg DM) : rice straw 560, molasses 115, rice bran 180, peanut cake 130 andmineral supplement 15; diet 2 contained (g/kg DM) : millet straw 580, molasses 115, millet bran 175,peanut cake 113 and mineral supplement 15; diet 3 was a mixture of (g/kg DM) peanut hulls 180 and cake 50, molasses 200, maize grain 95, senal* 200, cotton seeds 250 and mineral supplement 25, In Experiment 2, the rumen degradation pattern of the feed ingredients was evaluated using the nylon bag technique in three fistulated Gobra zebu bulls successively fed the same diets. In vivo dry matter and organic matter digestibility were significantly (P 55 % DM) and concentrates (1)t>55 % DM). Treatment of straws with molasses (17%) significantly (P<0.01) improved their DM degradation. The feed average degradation profile was influenced by fibre content, especially lignocellulose (R= - 0.76). Feed DtAL .can also be predicted by dry matter disappearance at 24 h incubation time (R=0.90) and from individual ingredients in the case of mixed feeds. (Resume d'auteur)
Highlights
Optimization of the rumen function is of major importance for the digestion of diets based on low quality roughages (Sundst0l and Owen, 1984; Galyean and Goetsch, 1993)
The main objective of this study was to assess in vivo dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and fibre digestibility of three diets based on rice straw, millet straw and peanut hulls and to study rumen efficiency of zebu cattle fed those diets by measuring dry matter degradation of different ingredients using the nylon bag method
The results are consistent with the usual ranges of tropical feed chemical composition (Kearl, 1982; Richard et al, 1989; Pond et al, 1995)
Summary
Optimization of the rumen function is of major importance for the digestion of diets based on low quality roughages (Sundst0l and Owen, 1984; Galyean and Goetsch, 1993). There are strong relationships between diet composition and digestibility. Rumen microbial ecosystem and activity are influenced by the supplement type and level in the diet which determine the availability of minerals, nitrogen and glucogenic precursors. Rations should be formulated to meet ruminant nutrient requirements and to stimulate positive interactions among ingredients. The latter interactions may improve the feed value by enhancing feed intake, microbial synthesis and fibre degradation. The extent and rate of feed dry matter intraluminal degradation are valid criteria for assessing the feed value of fibrous feeds for ruminants and the efficiency of the rumen (0rskov et al, 1980; Preston and Leng, 1987)
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