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Comparison of the Digestibility of Certain Pasture Forages in the Fresh and Dried States

North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station¹

Abstract

Artificial drying (60° C.) decreased the digestibility of the protein (P=.01) and the lignin (P=.05) of Ladino clover, tall fescue, and orchard grass. The crude fiber of the orchard grass and the fescue was more digestible following drying. Drying increased the digestibility of the nitrogen-free extract of the fescue, while decreasing its digestibility in the clover. The digestibility of the ether extract and the dry matter were not appreciably affected by drying. In the same experiment, rabbits digested all the nutrients of Ladino clover to a greater extent than they did those of either tall fescue or orchard grass. The ether extract and the protein of the fescue were more digestible than those of the orchard, whereas the crude fiber was more digestible in the orchard grass. Digestibility of the dry matter, nitrogen-free extracts, and lignin and the total digestible nutrients were not significantly different in the grasses. The lignin of the clover was 24.1 percent digestible.

Published with the approval of the Director of Research as paper No. 447 in the Journal series.

¹ Department of Animal Industry, Raleigh.