EFFECTS OF PELLETING RATIONS ON DISTRIBUTION OF INGESTA IN THE ALIMENTARY TRACT OF SHEEP

Abstract

The amount of fill in the digestive tract of sheep fed fixed amounts of ground and pelleted hay was lower than for those fed an equal quantity of the same hay chopped. Much of the dry matter decrease was due to a drop in the amount of crude fiber in the reticulo-rumen although a similar trend occurred in the omasum, abomasum and small intestine. Protein, ether extract and nitrogen-free extract were affected but accounted for less of the total change in dry matter. These decreases were in part compensated by larger quantities of the various constituents in the large intestine. Quantities of short-chain fatty acids tended to decrease in the fore-tract and increase in the large intestine, supporting the concept that the grinding and pelleting of hay causes a partial shift in fermentation processes to the posterior part of the digestive tract. In contrast to the pattern found with the 100 per cent hay rations, the grinding and pelleting of a ration of 30 per cent barley and 70 per cent hay showed little effect on the distribution of constituents in the ingesta throughout the tract.