Effects of source of rumen fluid on in vitro dry matter digestibility of feeds determined using the DAISYII incubator

Abstract

Apparent (ADD) and true (TDD) in vitro dry matter digestibilities of 12 ruminant feeds were determined with the DAISYII incubator (ANKOM Technology Corp. Macedon, NY) using inoculum prepared from ruminal fluid obtained from steers fed grass hay or from cows fed total mixed ration (56% forage and 44% grain, DM basis). Inoculum source did not affect ADD and TDD. Averaged across feeds and sources of inoculum, ADD was 6.7 percentage points lower than TDD. Key words: In vitro dry matter digestibility, ruminant feeds, inoculum, ANKOM DAISYII incubator