Degradability and flow rate studies in sheep fed a basal diet of Katambora Rhodes grass hay (Chloris gayana), supplemented with Silverteaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum)

摘要

The objective was to study the effects of supplementing Rhodes grass hay with a legume on digestion in ruminants. Two experiments were conducted with three rumen fistulated Holstein Friesian steers, and four rumen and abomasally cannulated wethers ofthe indigenous Sabi breed. Trial 1 was carried out to determine rumen degradability of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and nitrogen (N). Trial 2 was to assess the flow of nutrients to the abomasum in sheep using the dual phase marker technique ; and to estimate microbial protein yield (MPY) using the purine derivatives (PD) technique.