Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T02:16:43.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of post-rumen supply of nutrients on rumen digesta load and voluntary intake of a roughage by sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

S. G. Gherardi  and
J. L. Black
S. G. Gherardi
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Animal Production, Box 239, Blacktown, New South Wales 2148, Australia
J. L. Black
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Animal Production, Box 239, Blacktown, New South Wales 2148, Australia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The effect of post-rumen supply of nutrients on the rumen digesta load and voluntary consumption of roughage by Border Leicester × Merino ram lambs was investigated. A chopped wheaten hay was offered to the ram lambs (n 24), whose nutrient intake was altered by infusing into the abomasum a liquid supplement, containing reconstituted cow's milk, sodium caseinate, minerals and vitamins, for a period of at least 30 d. Either two or three lambs were allocated by live weight to each of ten rates of nutrient supplementation. The lambs were slaughtered at a target live weight of 31 kg. Voluntary intake of hay was estimated over the last 7 d of feeding. The amounts of digesta and organic matter (OM) in the rumen were measured by emptying after slaughter. The particle size distribution of the digesta was measured by wet sieving and the fractional outflow rate of particulate matter by reference to the marker lignin. Growth rate of the lambs increased linearly as total energy infused increased. The linear increase in growth rate indicated that roughage was not substituted for infused nutrients on a direct energy basis. OM intake from hay declined linearly as the amount of nutrients infused increased. The decline in intake was associated with a decline in both total digesta and the amount of rumen OM. Both the fractional digestion rate of OM and the fractional outflow rate of particulate matter from the rumen were unaffected by the amount of nutrients infused. The results indicated that the rumen digesta load of young sheep fed on a single roughage is directly related to their energy deficit, that is the difference between the capacity of the animals to use energy and the energy available to them for metabolism.

Keywords

Rumen digesta loadVoluntary intakeSheep
Type
Gastrointestinal Physiology, Digestion and Metabolism: Ruminants
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , November 1989 , pp. 589 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1989

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council (1965). The Nutrient Requirements of Livestock no. 2, Ruminants. London: Agricultural Research Council.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council (1980). The Nutrient Requirements of Farm Livestock. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Black, J.L. (1971). A theoretical consideration of the effect of preventing rumen fermentation on the efficiency of utilization of dietary energy and protein in lambs. British Journal of Nutrition 25, 31–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Black, J.L. (1984). The integration of data for prediction of feed intake, nutrient requirements and animal performance. In Herbivore Nutrition in the Subtropics and Tropics, pp. 648–671 [Gilchrist, F.M.C. and Mackie, R.I., editors]. Graighall: Science Press.Google Scholar
Black, J.L., Faichney, G.J. & Sinclair, R.E. (1982). Role of computer simulation in overcoming limitations to animal production from pastures. In Nutritional Limits to Animal Production from Pastures, pp. 473–493 [Hacker, J.B., editor]. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Black, J.L. & Griffiths, D.A. (1975). Effects of live weight and energy intake on nitrogen balance and total N requirements of lambs. British Journal of Nutrition 33, 399–413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colebrook, W.F. & Black, J.L. (1981). Influence of dietary lysine content on energy utilization in pre-ruminant lambs. Animal Production 33, 253–258.Google Scholar
Davis, P. & Weston, R.H. (1986). The effect of alkali treatment of wheaten straw on palatability, feed intake and various aspects of digestion with sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 11, 168–171.Google Scholar
Faichney, G.J. (1980). Measurement in sheep of the quantity and composition of rumen digesta and of the fractional outflow rates of digesta constituents. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 31, 1129–1137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faichney, G.J. (1986). The kinetics of particulate matter in the rumen. In Control of Digestion and Metabolism in Ruminants, pp. 173–195 [Milligan, L.P., Grovum, W.L. and Dobson, A., editors]. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Faichney, G.J. & White, G.A. (1983). Methods for the Analysis of Feeds Eaten by Ruminants. Melbourne: CSIRO.Google Scholar
Gherardi, S.G., Black, J.L. & Kellaway, R.C. (1985). Influence of nutrient deficit on rumen content and voluntary intake of roughage by sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 10, 143Google Scholar
Neilsen, M.J. & Richards, G.N. (1978). The fate of the soluble lignin-carbohydrate complex produced in the bovine rumen. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 29, 513–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neutze, S.A. (1985). Kinetics of nitrogen transfer across the rumen wall of sheep. MSc Thesis, University of Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Poppi, D.P., Norton, B.W., Minson, D.J. & Hendrickson, R.E. (1980). The validity of the critical size theory for particles leaving the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 275–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulyatt, M.J. (1983). Plant fibre and regulation of digestion in the ruminant. In Fibre in Human and Animal Nutrition, pp. 103–107 [Wallace, G. and Bell, L., editors]. Wellington: The Royal Society of New Zealand.Google Scholar
Welch, J.G. & Smith, A.M. (1969). Effect of varying amounts of forage intake on rumination. Journal of Animal Science 28, 827–830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, R.H. (1980). Roughage intake and digestion comparisons with lambs and adult sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 5, 191Google Scholar
Weston, R.H. (1984). Rumen digesta load in relation to the voluntary feed consumption and rumination in roughage-fed young sheep. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 64, Suppl., 324–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, R.H. (1985). The regulation of feed intake in herbage-fed young sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 10, 55–62.Google Scholar
Weston, R.H. (1988). Factors limiting the intake of feed by sheep. X. The effect of concentrate supplements on the voluntary consumption and digestion of a medium quality roughage. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 39, 255–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, R.H. & Cantle, J.A. (1982). Voluntary roughage consumption in growing and lactating sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 7, 147Google Scholar
Weston, R.H. & Cantle, J.A. (1983). Digestion studies with two sheep genotypes exhibiting a difference in voluntary roughage consumption. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 8, 177–180.Google Scholar
Weston, R.H. & Davis, P. (1986). Low palatability as a constraint to the intake of wheaten straw diet by sheep. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 11, 172–175.Google Scholar