The influence of different species on fecal recoveries and accuracy of forage intake estimation using alkane method
2001
Uehara, A. (Iwate Univ., Morioka (Japan)) | Hanada, M. | Okamoto, M.
This experiment was conducted to investigate the use of n-alkanes for estimating forage intake. Four species of hay (timothy (TY), Italian ryegrass (IB), Chinese wild rye (CR) and alfalfa (AL)) with different n-alkane contents were offered. Eight sheep were assigned to four groups in a replicated (n=2) 4*4 Latin square design. Sheep were dosed twice daily with paper pellet containing a daily 128 mg of Octacosane (C28) and 120 mg of Dotriacontane (CS2). During the last 7 days of the 14 days - dosing period, the amount of herbage intake and collected feces were weighed. Herbage intake was estimated using n-alkane contents in herbage and in feces. Actual DM intake and herbage DM digestibility were different among species. The content of Hentriacontane (C31) in TY was less then 50mg/kgDM and in AL was over 400mg/kgDM. There was no relationship between n-alkane chain length and fecal recoveries. And the fecal recoveries of C31 and C32 were not different among species. The ratio of recovery in feces of C31 and C32 was within 1.10 in the species. The most accurate estimation of intake was obtained using C31 and C32 concentration. These results suggest that accurate estimation of herbage intake by alkane method is possible from the simultaneous use of longer chain and high concentration in herb age.
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