A lamb digestion trial was conducted to compare the ability of internal markers to predict digestibility of alfalfa. Lambs were fed alfalfa hay grown with varying amounts of water stress where water per harvest ranged from 10 to 20 cm/ha and yield ranged 1400 to 4200 kg/ha. In vivo dry matter digestibility was most highly correlated with digestibility determined using acid detergent fiber insol...

Alfalfa is usually wilted 15% or less moisture prior to baling for hay. However, harvesting at low moistures increases loss of leaves (protein) during baling and reduces nutritive value. In addition, long wilting times increases the risk for damage from rain. In order to retain more nutrients and prevent rain damage, hay can be baled at higher moistures but the risk of spoilage from undesirable...

Crude fibers (CF) take a special place in the growing rabbit`s nutrition. In depend on their origin and composition, CF have digestibility 1725% in the roughages and up to 40-50% in the green and concentrate feeds. They are very important in the regulation of the processes of both digestibility and bacterial synthesis. The optimal CF quantity for growing rabbits is 12-15%. Alfalfa hay is prefer...

D IGESTION experiments with cattle fed simplified rations produced results in this laboratory indicating that efficiency of roughage dry matter digestion was dependent upon the presence or absence of certain ration nutrients or feed components needed by rumen microorganisms. The nutrients or feed components which favorably influenced roughage digestion in cattle experiments were protein (N X6.~...

Ruminants prefer hay cut in the afternoon to hay cut in themorning, presumably because hay cut in the afternoon contains higher concentrations of non-structural carbohydrates than hay cut in the morning. We determined if adding sugars (glucose and sucrose) to ground hay would account for differences in preference and affect intake of hay. Alfalfa hay cut either in the afternoon (PM) or the foll...

Heaves, an obstructive neutrophilic airway inflammation of horses, is triggered by dust components such as endotoxin and has similarities to human asthma. Pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs) increase horses' sensitivity to endotoxin-induced lung inflammation; however, their role in an airborne pathology remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated the role of PIMs in the development of he...

Hart and associates (1) have shown that milking goats, when fed a green feed, have been able to utilize the calcium to a higher degree than when fed dry feed. They state that “apparently there is something having its source in fresh green materials, which controls or assists calcium assimilation.” Hart and associates (2) have also reported evidence secured with milking cows that it is possible ...

A 5 x 5 Latin square design was used to determine the effects of restricted and ad libitum intake of diets containing wheat middlings on the site and extent of digestion compared to ad libitum intake of a corn-based diet and ad libitum intake of chopped alfalfa hay. Five ruminally and duodenally cannulated Angus steers (519 +/- 41.5 kg BW) were used to compare five dietary treatments. The five ...