A study was performed to: 1) compare total tract digestibility of nutrients for three annual summer forages: Mulato II (hybrid Brachiaria); “Tifleaf 3” Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum); and “Hay Day” Sorghum sudan (Sorghum bicolor) and 2) determine the efficacy of two digestibility markers: titanium dioxide (TiO2) and chromic oxide (Cr2O3) used with a fecal sample collection protocol of either...

Ruminants raised for meat and milk are important sources of protein in human diets worldwide. Their unique digestive system allows them to derive energy and nourishment from forages, making use of vast areas of grazing lands not suitable for arable cropping or biofuel production and avoiding direct competition for grain that can be used as human food. However, sustaining an ever-growing populat...

A data base was constructed to describe and estimate supplementation effects in nonlactating cattle consuming forage ad libitum. The data base included 66 publications on 126 forages (73 harvested and 53 grazed) and a total of 444 comparisons between a control, unsupplemented treatment and a supplemented treatment. Daily gains were reported for 301 comparisons and voluntary intake for 258. Dire...

Forages help meet the protein requirements of ruminants by providing degraded CP for microbial protein synthesis plus protein that escapes ruminal degradation. Evidence from numerous feeding studies with lactating dairy cows indicates that excessive ruminal protein degradation may be the most limiting nutritional factor in higher-quality temperature legume forages. Hence, there is interest in i...

Ruminants evolved their multi-compartment digestive tract to effectively process plant material containing large amounts of cell wall material. We rely on forages as the sole or major feed resource for domestic ruminant animal production, even in the grain intensive North American beef and dairy systems. Unfortunately, digestibility of forages is extremely variable and almost always less than g...

North American porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) subsist predominantly on low-protein, high-fiber, high-tannin diets. Therefore, we measured the porcupine's ability to digest dry matter, fiber, and protein by conducting digestion trials on eight natural forages and one pelleted ration varying in concentration of fiber, nitrogen, and tannins. On these diets, dry matter intake ranged from 5 to 234 ...

Two trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of corn or dried beet pulp on intake and digestibility of forage by lambs and on IVDMD. In Trial 1, 16 lambs (average BW = 41 +/- .9 kg) were used in a randomized complete block design with eight lambs per block. Lambs were fed a crested wheatgrass hay (7.5% CP) and received either no supplement (NS), a protein supplement (PS), or protein supple...

The experiment was conducted to study the production and nutritional values of high yielding fodders by the goat farmers in Kobirhat and Subornochar upazilas of Noakhali District. The yields of high yielding forages had significant differences among the species. The average higher biomass were obtained from Napier–hybrid (34), Napier-aerosa (20), Napier–bazra (17.33) and Splendida (19). The And...