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Relationships between Digestibility and Energy Value in Primary Growth Fresh Herbage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

D I Givens  and
Jeannie M Everington
D I Givens
Affiliation:
ADAS, Feed Evaluation Unit Alcester Road, Stratford on Avon, CV37 9RQ
Jeannie M Everington
Affiliation:
ADAS, Feed Evaluation Unit Alcester Road, Stratford on Avon, CV37 9RQ
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Extract

Despite its importance, relatively few measurements have been made of the metabolisable energy (ME) content of fresh herbage. Changes in the nutritive value of spring herbage are commonly described in terms of its digestible organic matter content (DOMD) either measured in vitro or predicted from a fibre fraction. ME is normally assumed to be directly proportional to DOMD.

Energetic studies of herbage such as those of Armstrong (1964) and Beever et al (1985) have been restricted to pure species and one location. The purpose of the present experiment was to examine changes in DOMD and energy values with increasing maturity in vivo using sheep in commercial swards over several years.

Type
Forage Intake and Utilisation by Dairy Cows
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1988 , March 1988 , pp. 17
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1988

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References

Armstrong, D G (1964) J. Agric. Sci. 62, 399–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beever, D E, Thomson, D J, Ulyatt, M J, Cammell, S B and Spooner, M C (1985). Br. J. Nutr. 54, 763–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K Land Clapperton, J L (1965) Br. J. Nutr. 19, 511–522.Google Scholar
Terry, R A, Osbourn, D F, Cammell, S B and Fenlon, J S (1974) Vaxtodling. 28, 19–25.Google Scholar