Determinants of Grazed Forage Intake and Digestibility

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Abstract
The inability to consistently predict voluntary intake of forage by ruminants reflects an incomplete quantitative understanding of the dynamic processes. Voluntary intake of less digestible forages is limited by volume of the reticulorumen, volume occupied therein by forage residues undergoing digestion and rates of chemical and physical processes which determine turnover of this volume. Two simplified expressions of progressively increasing detail are presented, and typical data illustrate consequences of varying selected digestive processes upon digestibility and voluntary intake of coastal bermuda hay. The expressions provide explanations consistent with observations on interactions between intake, rates of digestion and passage, and extent of digestion of varied entities.