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Energy Partitioning and Nitrogen Balance of Sheep Fed Soybean Straw Diets

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana 61801

Abstract

Energy and nitrogen availability from soybean straw was measured by 32 indirect respiration calorimetry and conventional balance trials on four straw diets fed to eight ewes and eight wethers. Two experiments investigated two contemporary cultivars, pelleting effects and the value of collecting a fraction higher in pod content. Ewes were able to maintain positive energy balances only when the Corsoy straw was pelleted while wethers gained body energy only on the high-pod fraction of the Wayne straw. Ewes and wethers fed the ground straws consumed only about 70% of their maintenance energy requirements although these intakes were adequate to maintain zero N balance. Metabolizability of diet gross energy at high levels of intake was improved from 30 for the ground diet to 36% for the pelleted diet. This difference resulted from marginally lower fecal losses and lower methane when the straw was pelleted and fed at the high intake levels. Collecting the 15% higher pod content fraction of the second cultivar improved energy digestibility from 43 to 49 and metabolizability from 35 to 42 as a percent hi the gross energy of the diets. Regression of heat production or retained energy on metabolizable energy intake revealed no differences in efficiency of metabolizable energy utilization either due to pelleting or due to the high-pod fraction. Mean metabolizable energy by difference in ground soybean straw was 1.35 kcal/g DM with potential of 10 to 20% improvement by pelleting or by collecting a fraction higher in pods.

¹ Current address: J. N. Agr. Univ., Jabalpur, India.

² Current address: Metabolic Lab., Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins, CO 80523.