Intake and Digestibility of Barley Straw by Goats : Effect of Ammonia Treatment of Straw and Straw-Previously-Refused by Goats

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Abstract
Wahed and Owen (1986) reported a 0.33 increase in barley straw dry matter (DM) intake when stall-fed goats were allowed to refuse 0.5 of the amount offered rather than the 0.2, or less, allowed in conventional ad lib feeding. This approach offers a possible strategy for maximising intake and improving utilization of straw in Third World countries developing stall feeding systems for goats based on crop residues and other by-products. Generous feeding of straw (say allowing refusal-rates of 0.5 of amounts offered) could be followed by the refeeding of refusals after treating them with ammonia.The experiment was undertaken to investigate refeeding straw previously refused by goats and to measure the effect of ammonia-treating such refusals on Intake and digestibility. Barley straw and refusals (0.5 of amount offered) of the same straw were chopped and half of each material treated with ammonia (0.11 of 330 g NH3/kg solution per kg straw in sealed plastic bags for 30 days).