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Influence of Whole-Plant Barley Reconstituted with Sodium Hydroxide on Digestibility, Rumen Fluid and Plasma Metabolism of Sheep^{1, 2, 3,}

University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1 Canada

Abstract

Whole-plant barley was reconstituted and treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at the rate of 0, 2, 3 or 4% of dry matter. Rumen-fistulated sheep were used to investigate the effects of treatment on nutrient digestibility and concentration of rumen fluid and plasma metabolites. Treatments increased digestibility of dry matter, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, cellulose and non-starch components at the (P <.01) level and for organic matter and gross energy at the (P <.05) level. Nitrogen retention decreased (P <.05) with 4% NaOH compared to other treatments. Rumen fluid molar proportion of propionic acid increased (P <.05) while isovaleric acid decreased (P <.01) with increasing level of NaOH. Acetic acid tended to decrease and butyric acid tended to increase with treatment. Rumen fluid lactic acid increased (P <.05) and pH tended to decrease with alkali treatment. Increasing levels of NaOH increased rumen osmolality (P <.01) and decreased rumen ammonia (P <.05) and plasma urea (P <.01). Ruminal hypertonicity may have limited the extend of improvement in digestibility due to NaOH treatment as well as impaired nitrogen metabolism.

¹ Financial assistance, gratefully acknowledged, was provided by the National Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

² Data was taken from a thesis submitted by the senior author to the Graduate School, University of Guelph, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

³ The authors wish to express their appreciation to Dr. G. C. Ashton for statistical advice and to Mr. G. C. Smith for assistance in computer programming of data.

⁴ Present address: c/o Martin Feed Mills, Ltd., Elmira, Ontario, Canada NOB, 1RO.

⁵ Department of Animal and Poultry Science.