Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T22:06:44.237Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of supplementary and fertilizer sulphur on voluntary intake, digestibility, retention time in the rumen, and site of digestion of pangola grass in sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. C. Rees ,
D. J. Minson  and
F. W. Smith
M. C. Rees
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Tropical Agronomy, Mill Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
D. J. Minson
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Tropical Agronomy, Mill Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
F. W. Smith
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Tropical Agronomy, Mill Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Pangola grass grown with and without sulphur fertilizer was cut as a 7-week regrowth to measure voluntary intake and digestibility by sheep. To determine the extent of a simple sulphur deficiency half the sheep on each feed were supplemented with 0·6 gsulphur daily. Retention time of feed in the reticulo-rumen and proportion of feed digested anterior to the duodenum was also determined.

Sulphur fertilizer increased the sulphur content of the pasture from 0·09 to 0·15%, voluntary intake of dry matter from 44·4 to 64·1 g/kg W0·75/day and dry-matter digestibility from 55·2 to 60·2%. Sulphur fertilizer reduced the retention time in the reticulo-rumen by 16% and increased the extent of dry-matter digestion before the duodenum from 13 to 34%.

Feeding a sulphur supplement increased dry-matter digestibility of the low sulphur feed to that found with sulphur fertilized pangola grass but only accounted for 63% of the difference in voluntary intake.

It was concluded that fertilizer sulphur leads to large increases in both voluntary intake and digestibility of sulphur deficient grass and that the improvement in nutritive value may be more than can be achieved by feeding a sulphur supplement.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 82 , Issue 3 , June 1974 , pp. 419 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andrew, C. S. & Bryan, W. W. (1955). Pasture studies on the coastal lowlands of subtropical Queensland. I. Introduction and initial plant nutrient studies. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 6, 265–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, P. R. (1972). Sulphur metabolism and excretion studies in ruminants. IX. Sulphur, nitrogen and energy utilization by sheep fed a sulphur-deficient and a sulphate-supplemented, roughage-based diet. Australian Journal of Biological Science 25, 1073–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, A. C. & Hemsley, J. A. (1969). Sulphur metabolism of sheep. IV. The effect of a varied dietary sulphur content on some body fluid sulphate levels and on the utilization of urea-supplemented roughage by sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 20, 759–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, A. D. & Simons, J. G. (1972). Direct reading emission spectroscopic analysis of plant tissue using a briquetting technique. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 3, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, P. M. & Siebert, B. D. (1973). The utilization of spear grass (Heteropogon contortus). III. The influence of the level of dietary sulphur on the utilization of spear grass by sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 24, 143–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laredo, M. A. & Minson, D. J. (1973). The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time of leaf and stem fractions of five grasses. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 24, 875–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1966). The apparent retention of food in the reticulo-rumen at two levels of feeding by means of an hourly feeding technique. British Journal of Nutrition 20, 765–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minson, D. J. (1972). The digestibility and voluntary intake by sheep of six tropical grasses. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 12, 21–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Playne, M. J. (1969). Effects of sodium sulphate and gluten supplements on the intake and digestibility of a mixture of spear grass and Townsville lucerne hay by sheep. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 9, 393–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, C. H. (1958). The soils of the C.S.I.R.O. Beerwah experimental area coastal lowlands, south eastern Queensland. C.S.I.R.O. Division of Soils, Divisional Report No. 15/57.Google Scholar
Thornton, R. F. & Minson, D. J. (1972). The relationship between voluntary intake and mean apparent retention times in the rumen. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 23, 871–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. (1963). Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. II. A rapid method for the determination of fibre and lignin. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Journal 46, 829–35.Google Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. & Wine, R. H. (1967). Use of detergents in the analyses of fibrous feeds. IV. Determination of plant cell-wall constituents. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Journal 50, 50–5.Google Scholar