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Digestion of Aspen, Alkali-Treated Aspen, and Aspen Bark by Goats^{1, 2,}

University of Wisconsin 53706 and U.S. Department of Agricultural

Abstract

THE utilization of wood or bark as an energy source for ruminants has been tried on several occasions. In the Scandinavian countries more than 1.5 million tons of sulfate and sulfite pulps from spruce, pine and fir were fed to cattle and horses during World War II when feed supplies were short (Hvidsten and Homb, 1951; Nordfeldt, 1947).

Most untreated woods are quite indigestible. Millett et al. (1970), using an in vitro rumen technique, found that of 24 species and subspecies examined, only aspen, ash and maple were digested to any extent. A recent study by Dinius et al. (1970) has confirmed that oak is essentially indigestible by sheep. The digestibility of some woods can be substantially increased, however, with appropriate chemical or physical treatment. Millett et al. (1970) used, with varying degrees of success, gamma irradiation, ammonia swelling, vibratory ball milling and dilute sodium hydroxide solutions to increase in vitro digestibility.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Madison.

² Acknowledgment is made to the Graduate School Research Committee, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and to the Tennessee Valley Authority, Division of Forestry Development, Norris, for cooperation and support in this work.

³ Department of Dairy Science, Madison.

⁴ Forest Products Laboratory, Forest Service. The Laboratory is maintained at Madison (North Walnut Street, 53705) in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin, Madison.