Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science. Andhra Pradesh Agricltural University, Hyderahad-500 030, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
The pH and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentration with respect to time after feeding were compared with 3 Nellore rams and 3 Mahaboobnagar breed of bucks. The animals were fed maize cobs (ground)) spear grass say (chaffed))nd cotton straw (ground) as sole roughage sources. The average dry matter and water intake per 100 kg gody weight differed between sheep and goats. The lowest rumen pH value was observed at 4 hr post-feeding in both the species. Animals fed cotton ssraw showed highest pH values. The TTFA concentration was higher in goats than in sheep irrespective of roughage source. The pH vulues and TVFA concentrations at 4hr post-feeding were found to be inversely related, (ioats were observed to be more rumen efficient in utilising coarse roughages as compared to sheep.
