An Evaluation of the Nylon Bag Technique for Estimating Rumen Utilization of Grains

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Abstract
Evaluation of the nylon bag technique indicates that many factors affect absolute values of dry matter disappearance when grains are incubated in a nylon bag in the rumen of a fistulated steer. Results varied widely between steers fed the same ration, rations fed, length of sample incubation period, chains (locations in the rumen), sample sizes, bag cloth types, bag sizes, grains and grain preparations. Many interactions between these factors were also present. Eight-hour incubations of 10 g samples in 10.2 cm wide nylon bags made of parachute cloth provided reliable differences between treatments. In general, means of various cloth types and grain particle size treatment combinations differed between steers, days and rations. However, the ranking of each treatment was the same when comparing values for the same hay-fed-steer on different days, different hay-fed-steers on the same day, different hay-fed-steers on different days, and steers fed hay vs. steers fed sorghum grain on different days. Results of the nylon bag evaluations agree favorably with previously conducted total collection digestion trials comparing sorghum grain, barley and grain processing methods. It appears that the value of the nylon bag technique in measuring rumen utilization of grains lies in its ability to rank various treatments; however, any specific numerical value obtained has limited usefulness. Copyright © 1972. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1972 by American Society of Animal Science

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