Digestibility of Sheep Ration Containing Different Levels of Native Grass Hay and Concentrate Mixture of Wheat Bran and Dried Food Left over

The experiment was carried out at Mekelle University livestock farm, Tigray, Ethiopia. 12 male yearling Highland sheep with an average live weight of 20 + 2.5 kg (mean ± standard deviation) were used in the experiment. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of digestibility of sheep ration containing different levels of roughage and concentrate mixture on performance of highland sheep. Food left over was collected from Mekelle University student cafeteria and dried with sun light for 3 - 4 days. The experimental design was a randomized complete Block design (RCBD) with four treatments and three replications. The experimental animals were grouped into three blocks based on their initial live body weight, which was determined by weighing after overnight fasting. The experiment was carried out for 15 days including 5 days of adaptation period and 3 days of adaptation and harnessing (fecal bags). At the end of the feeding trial, digestibility trial was carried out for seven consecutive days. There was significantly higher (P 0.05) total DM intake in the supplemented group than in the control treatment. Digestibility of DM and OM were non-significance (P > 0.05) for all treatments. Generally, the present study indicated that supplementation of Tigray highland rams with concentrate mixture had an effect on performance of sheep and the effects were relatively more pronounced on rams supplemented with the highest level of concentrate mixture.

Using vibrational infrared biomolecular spectroscopy to detect heat-induced changes of molecular structure in relation to nutrient availability of prairie whole oat grains on a molecular basis

Background： To our knowledge, there is little study on the interaction between nutrient availability and molecular structure changes induced by different processing methods in dairy cattle. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of heat processing methods on interaction between nutrient availability and molecular structure in terms of functional groups that are related to protein and starch inherent structure of oat grains with two continued years and three replication of each year.Method： The oat grains were kept as raw（control） or heated in an air-draft oven（dry roasting： DO） at 120 °C for 60 min and under microwave irradiation（MIO） for 6 min. The molecular structure features were revealed by vibrational infrared molecular spectroscopy.Results： The results showed that rumen degradability of dry matter, protein and starch was significantly lower（P 〈0.05） for MIO compared to control and DO treatments. A higher protein α-helix to β-sheet and a lower amide I to starch area ratio were observed for MIO compared to DO and/or raw treatment. A negative correlation（-0.99, P 〈 0.01）was observed between α-helix or amide I to starch area ratio and dry matter. A positive correlation（0.99, P 〈 0.01） was found between protein β-sheet and crude protein.Conclusion： The results reveal that oat grains are more sensitive to microwave irradiation than dry heating in terms of protein and starch molecular profile and nutrient availability in ruminants.