Abstract
The effect of ruminal infusion of acetic acid on eating and rumination behaviour in sheep fed on various hay diets
Highlights
It has been well known that the rumination behaviour is closely related with the utilization o f feed, in particular roughages, and the physical property o f feed influences on eating and rumination behaviour in sheep and cattle (Pearce and Moir, 1965; Fujihara, 1980; Itabisashi, 1987)
Digestibility o f organic matter (OM) of each hay diet tended to decrease after acetic acid infusion as compared with that in control, but not significantly (P>0.05)
The digestibility of crude protein (CP) in Italian ryegrass and timothy hays tended to be higher after acetic acid infusion than that in control, but not significantly (P>0.05), whereas in lucerne hay there was no difference in protein digestibility with or without acetic acid infusion
Summary
It has been well known that the rumination behaviour is closely related with the utilization o f feed, in particular roughages, and the physical property o f feed influences on eating and rumination behaviour in sheep and cattle (Pearce and Moir, 1965; Fujihara, 1980; Itabisashi, 1987). In order to investigate the effect o f chemical change in diet on rumination behaviour, there is little information using sheep with ruminal infusion o f volatile fatty acids (VFAs)(Egan and Moir, 1965). In a paper by Fujihara et al (2002), the ruminal infusion o f acetic acid or propionic acid did not have clear effect on eating and ruminating behaviour, there were obvious effect of nitrogen balance after infusion o f acetic acid, in sheep fed on a low quality hay. The effect of ruminal infusion of acetic acid on digestibility o f feed and eating and rumination behaviour was investigated in sheep fed a various hay diets with differing the nitrogen contents. Part o f this work has been briefly described by Fujihara et al (1990)
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