Effect of the forage particle size and the number of feedings on intake and digestibility in sheep

Abstract

Intake, apparent digestibility and ingestive behavior were studied in sheep fed four particle size of forage in two daily frequencies. Twenty-four sheep with live weight of 37.0kg were studied in a completely randomized design in factorial 2x4 scheme (two feeding frequency and 4 particle sizes) totaling six animals per treatment. Tifton-85 hay and a commercial concentrate were used with a ratio of 25:75%, respectively. The responses of intake and apparent digestibility were not modified with the treatments. Dry matter intake (DMI) was 97.43g/day/kgW0.75 and DMDA was 66.12%. The intake of neutral detergent fiber was 47.2g/day/kgW0.75. Smaller particle size (2mm) had lower times of rumination (214.58minutes/day) and chewing activity (360.41minutes/day). Animals spent 423.48minutes/day/kg of intake of neutral detergent fiber in rumination and 676.19 minutes/day/kg of intake of neutral detergent fiber in chewing activity. The times spent with rumination and the total chewing activity in sheep decreased as the particle size of the forage was reduced. The particle size of the forage and frequency of feeding did not affect the intake and apparent digestibility in sheep.