The digestibility of horse feeds and rations can be determined using different techniques such as calculations based on the chemical composition, in vivo or in vitro methods. The marker methods overcome difficulties like discomfort for the animals and longer experimental times encountered using the ingesta/egesta method. In field conditions, a natural indigestible marker like acid-insoluble ash...

Feed ingredients of plant origin are commonly used in swine diets. However, the major components of plant cell walls, non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs), reduce nutrient digestibility. To improve the efficiency of feed utilization, exogenous enzyme products that degrade NSPs have been widely used in commercial animal feeds. Nonetheless, the effects of exogenous enzyme addition to swine diets on ...

Wheat is so important in human affairs that its digestibility has been investigated on many occasions. The literature was summarized and fresh experiments carried out by Borgstrom (1941), Macrae, Hutchinson, Irwin, Bacon & McDougall (1942), Heupke (1943), McCance, Widdowson, Moran, Pringle & Macrae (1945), Brull, Barac, Brakier-Zelkowiecz, Clemens, Crismer, Deltombe, Divry, Dubois, Dumont, Dumo...

Four Holstein steers (208 kg) with "T" cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square design experiment to evaluate the interaction of feed intake level on comparative ruminal and total tract digestion of dry-rolled and steam-flaked corn. The basal diet contained (DM basis) 6% alfalfa hay, 6% sudangrass hay, 75% corn, 2% yellow grease, 5% cottonseed meal, 3% cane ...

Eight continuous culture fermenters were used in a completely randomized design to evaluate various nutritional values of Kochia (Kochia scoparia) compared with Atriplex (Atriplex dimorphostegia). Dried and pelleted samples (leaves and stems) provided substrate for metabolism by ruminal microbes maintained in a continuous culture fermentation system. Results indicated that there were no differe...

Starch, supplied in Midwest diets primarily from high-moisture and dry corn grain and whole-plant corn silage, is an important source of energy for dairy cattle. However, the digestibility of corn starch can be highly variable. Various factors, particle size (fine vs. coarse grind), grain processing (steam flaked vs. dry rolled), storage method (dry vs. high-moisture corn), moisture content of ...

The development of the yield and nutritive value of timothy (Phleum pratense L.) both in the primary growth and in the regrowth were studied at MTT Plant Production Research, a unit of MTT Agrifood Research Finland, in Rovaniemi (66°35 ́N) in 1999–2001. The dry matter yield and leaf to stem ratio were measured from the crop samples, and the contents of crude protein and organic matter digestibil...

Availability of phytate-bound P as influenced by supplemental phytase was studied in eight horses consuming four diets in a 4 x 4 Latin square design experiment. The treatments were a control (containing a low P level, 18.4 g/d) and three high-P diets. These diets contained P as monocalcium phosphate (MCP; 43.7 g/d), myoinositol hexakisphosphate in the form of wheat and rice bran (MIHP; 41.8 g/...

A practical approach to determine apparent faecal digestibility using privately owned dogs may be a useful tool in evaluating differences in nutrient digestibility between dogs with various life stages. The aim was to develop a simple method that would suit such studies using the whitening agent titanium oxide (TiO2) as an indigestible marker. Forty privately owned, healthy male and female dogs...

The digestibility of ether extract varies greatly from forages to grains and further to added fats consisting mainly of triglycerides. This variation has been attributed to two main factors, the presence of nonhydrolyzable substances in the ether extract, especially in leafy foods, and the dilution of endogenous fecal fat. A compilation of results from 188 equine digestion balance observations ...