Digestibility and palatability of Virginia fanpetals (Sida hermaphrodita R.) silage in sheep
The aim of the current study is to evaluate Virginia fanpetals silage based on an apparent digestibility and palatability test performed on six adult rams. Alfalfa silage was used as standard forage for comparison. Virginia fanpetals samples were harvested in the bud-formation stage and alfalfa samp...
Saved in:
Published in | Archiv für Tierzucht Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 89 - 96 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Copernicus GmbH
22.02.2022
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | The aim of the current study is to evaluate Virginia
fanpetals silage based on an apparent digestibility and palatability test performed on six adult rams. Alfalfa silage was used as standard
forage for comparison. Virginia fanpetals samples were harvested in the bud-formation
stage and alfalfa samples were harvested in the late bud stage. Virginia fanpetals
silage had a crude protein (CP) content of 176 g kg
-
1
dry matter (DM), a neutral
detergent fiber (NDF) content of 378 g kg
-
1
DM, and a lignin content of 42.8 g kg
-
1
DM. Virginia fanpetals silage had higher acidity (pH of 4.30) and was
characterized by intense lactic acid fermentation compared with alfalfa
silage (80 % vs. 51 % of the total acids). The digestibility coefficient
of Virginia fanpetals silage was as follows: for DM it was 0.707, for organic matter (OM)
it was 0.724, for CP it was 0.861, and for NDF it was 0.609. In comparison with alfalfa silage,
Virginia fanpetals silage was characterized by higher apparent digestibility
of nutrients, but a significant difference was noted only for CP. The
voluntary intake of Virginia fanpetals silage was significantly higher than
that of alfalfa silage (1427.4 vs. 954 g DM). The greatest differences in
voluntary intake were observed 0–2 and 8–12 h after feeding. Virginia
fanpetals silage had a chemical composition similar to that of alfalfa, but
it was characterized by a more desirable fermentation pattern and higher
digestibility, and it was more willingly consumed by rams. The present
findings indicate that Virginia fanpetals silage can be fed to sheep. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0003-9438 2363-9822 |
DOI: | 10.5194/aab-65-89-2022 |