1998 Volume 43 Issue 4 Pages 368-373
To investigate the ruminal characteristics under grazing white clover, three fistulated Suffolk and Corriedale crossbred wether sheep (mean body weight 48.0kg) were kept in metabolic cages, and foam stability of ruminal fluid, volatile fatty acid (VFA) and ammonia-nitrogen (NH_3-N) concentrations, protozoal density and ruminal contraction were measured with the course of time after feeding fresh white clover (Trifolium repens L.) or orchardgrass (Dactilis glomerata L.) at the same level of dry matter intake (30g dry matter/kg body weight/day). The foam stability of ruminal fluid was markedly high in 2hr after feeding of white clover compared with orchardgrass. Total VFA, acetate, propionate (P<0.05) and NH_3-N (P<0.001) of ruminal fluid in 2, 4, 6hr after feeding were significantly higher in white clover than in orchardgrass. The frequencies and amplitudes of ruminal contraction were greater and slightly smaller, respectively, in white clover feeding than in orchardgrass feeding. Ruminal properties such as foam stability of ruminal fluid, ruminal fermentation and ruminal motility in white clover feeding were largely different from those in orchardgrass feeding in both respects of the level and the changing pattern with the course of time after feeding.
