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Rate of Passage of Concentrate and Roughage through the Digestive Tract of Sheep¹

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Angleton

Abstract

Twenty mature wethers were used to study the rate of passage of corn and hay through the digestive tract when fed at different ratios. Using crystal violet dyed corn and basic fuchsin dyed hay, the rates of passage of an all corn and an all Coastal Bermuda hay ration and rations with corn:hay ratios of 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 was determined (800 gm. of each ration was fed daily). The average rate of passage of the hay was slower and appeared to be largely independent of the rate of passage of the corn. Further, as the amount of hay in the ration increased, the rate of passage of hay increased. It appears that the rate of passage of hay is controlled by the amount of hay entering the digestive tract. There were also significant differences between rations in the rate of passage of corn. Factors affecting the rate of passage of corn are not clear; however, it appeared that the movement of corn was hastened by an increase in the rate of passage of the hay portion of the ration.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station as Technical Article No. 4652.

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