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Simplified Technique for in Vitro Comparison of Cellulose and Dry Matter Digestibilities of Forages

Department of Animal Science, North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh

ABSTRACT

A technique for the relative comparison of cellulose digestibility or dry matter disappearance of various forages was developed which can be set up with a minimum exposure of rumen fluid to detrimental conditions and incubated in the rumen of a fistulated animal to provide normal rumen pH, temperature, digestion, and end-product removal. The method consists of placing a feedstuff sample in a dialysis bag with rumen fluid, suspending the bag in a perforated plastic cylinder, and incubating in the rumen of a fistulated animal.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Approximately 14-in. lengths of wet dialysis tubing (1 in.) were knotted in the center to form two bags. A 1-g feedstuff sample, ground in a Wiley mill to pass through a 1-mm screen opening, was placed in each bag.Twenty milliliters of rumen fluid, taken 6 hr after feeding and prepared by squeezing rumen contents through four layers of cheese cloth and slowly centrifuging the filtrate, was added and knots tied in the ends of the bags.