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Relationship between digestibility and faecal nitrogen in sheep and cows offered herbage ad libitum
Author(s) -
THOMAS S.,
CAMPLING R. C.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1976.tb01120.x
Subject(s) - organic matter , zoology , biology , dry matter , agronomy , feces , ecology
A comparison was made of the digestibility, voluntary intake and concentration of N in faecal organic matter in castrated male sheep and non‐lactating cows offered herbage ad libitum . The sheep ate 22% more herbage DM per kg liveweight than the cows. In general, the sheep and cows digested the organic matter of the herbage to the same extent, although on two occasions significantly higher digestibilities were observed in cows than in sheep. Similar concentrations of N in faecal organic matter in sheep and cows were matched by similar digestibilities of herbage organic matter. Regression equations relating herbage organic matter digestibility to faecal N concentration were not significantly different between sheep and cattle.