The problem of reduced appetite in ruminants fed silages persists but the factors responsible for reduced intake of silage have not been elucidated. This study was conducted with the objective of testing the hypothesis that ammonia loading in ruminants could suppress appetite. In a 5 x 5 latin square design, sheep were fed alfalfa silage (S), fresh alfalfa (FA), and FA with added equimolar amounts (450 mmol. kg$ sp{-1}$ feed DM) of NH$ sb4$Cl, NH$ sb4$HCO$ sb3$ and urea; the latter was infused directly into the rumen. The silage had a DM content of 33.1%, pH 4.4, and a lactic acid content of 4.3% of DM. Unfermented herbage had a pH of 5.5 and lactic acid content of 0.2% of DM. Digestibility of organic matter (OMD) exceeded 70% for both S and FA. Organic matter intake (OMI), digestible organic matter intake (DOMI), concentration of rumen NH$ sb3$, rumen pH, osmolality and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) did not differ (P $>$ 0.05) among treatment groups. The lack of differences among treatments may have been as a result of a failure to accentuate qualitative and quantitative differences between the FA and S and to raise ammonia in the rumen and peripheral blood to levels that could alter appetite.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.68180 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Harrison, Harry |
| Contributors | Phillip, L. E. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Animal Science.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001395908, proquestno: AAIMM94438, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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