US Dairy Forage Research Centre, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
*Present address Division of Dairy Cattle Nutrition National Dairy Research Institute Karal l32 001 India
Online published on 29 December, 2011.
Three Hoistein Friesian lactating cows, having rumen and duudenal cannulae were distributed in 3 treatment groups in a 3 x 3 latin square switch over design experiment, with each period of 10 d preliminary feeding. The animals were maintained on a ration providing 60% DM from brome grass hay and 40% from concentrate mixture to meet the requirement of nutrients. Hay was fed in long form to animals in group A and in ground and pelleted form in group li and C The ration was offered in 4 equal lots and refusal weighed once every day. In group C, modified McDougalls artificial saliva was continuously infused into the rumen (66 litre/day) by using a peristaltic pump. At the end of preliminary feeding in each period samples of rumen contents from 4 different sites and duodenum were drawn at different intervals and rumen volume estimated by completely emptying the rumen and weighing the contents. The results indicated a decrease in the DM intake from 17.85 to 15.91 kg/d due to infusion of artificial saliva while pelleting alone did not affect the intake The movement of particulate matter in ruminants was significantly affected by factors like animal size of particle and amount of saliva. However in duodenum the movement was at a consistent rate under normal conditions. Further it was stipulated that in each animal a certain amount of DM in rumen was essentially maintained.
