Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5796236 | Small Ruminant Research | 2012 | 4 Pages |
Whole-crop cereals could find use as hay for ruminant feeding in semi-arid areas. This work was designed to study the relationships connecting a set of chemical-composition and physical parameters linked to in vitro digestibility with the organic matter digestibility (OMD) and dry matter intake (DMI) of a selection of whole-crop cereal hays. The in vivo characteristics of the four cereal hays (barley, oats, rye and triticale) were determined using six 4-year-old sheep wethers (51.5 ± 4.98 kg live weight) per hay. There were significant positive relationships between in vitro dry matter digestibility and OMD. Crude protein content (g kgâ1 dry matter (DM)) was significantly correlated with OMD (r = 0.97; P < 0.05), and acid detergent fibre (g kgâ1 DM) was negatively correlated with OMD (r = â0.97; P < 0.10). There was a significant negative relationship between bulk density of hays (g mlâ1 fresh matter) and DMI (r = â0.96; P < 0.05) and the relationship between in vitro DM digestibility and intake was not significant (r = 0.67). These results suggest that bulk density may predict whole-crop cereal hay intake in sheep. Further research is needed to test this predictability over a wider range of feedstuffs.