Effects of ammoniation and supplementation with sweet clover hay on intake and digestibility of flax straw by sheep

Abstract

Flax straw (FS) was fed either untreated or ammoniated (3.5% of DM) in varying proportions with sweet clover hay (SC) to lambs. The addition of SC to both untreated and ammoniated FS increased organic matter intake (OMI), digestible OMI (DOMI), organic matter digestibility (OMD) (P < 0.001) and neutral detergent fibre digestibility (NDFD) (P < 0.05). Ammoniation of FS increased OMI, DOMI (P < 0.01) and OMD (P < 0.05). Neither ammoniation nor SC affected (P > 0.05) acid detergent fibre digestibility (ADFD). Key words: Flax straw, ammoniation, sweet clover, intake, digestibility, sheep