Comparison of the feeding values of hand- clipped and fistula samples of tropical pastures under grazing condition.
1977
Antwi, K.M., Animal Research Institute, P.O. Box 20, Achimota, Ghana
The feeding values of hand-clipped and fistula samples of Digitaria decumbens and Cynodon dactylon with or without Desmodium intortum were compared. Fistula samples (obtained from oesphageally fistulated wethers) from all the pasture treatments had higher percentage crude protein content than the corresponding hand-clipped herbages (P 0-01). Fistula samples from the pure grass treatments also had significantly higher in vitro dry matter digestibility values than the corresponding clipped herbages (P 0-01). There was, however, no significant difference between fistula and hand-clipped samples from the mixed treatments. Hand-clipped samples had higher percentage soluble carbohydrate content than the corresponding fistula samples (P 0-01). It was concluded that the feeding value estimated from hand-clipped samples may be a misleading index of the feeding value of the pasture eaten by grazing animals.
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