A note on digestibility in sheep as influenced by level of intake

Abstract

Digestibility of dry matter, energy and cell wall was measured in two series of digestibility trials in which sheep were fed on pelleted mixed rations containing either 326% cell wall at various levels of intake. There were significant depressions in digestibility of all nutritive components as the level of intake increased. The ration lower in cell wall showed smaller declines in dry matter and energy digestibility but a greater decline in cell wall digestibility. The results indicate that the cell wall fraction of concentrate-supplemented rations for sheep is a primary factor in the decline in digestibility observed with increase in level of intake.