Comparison of grass silage utilization by reindeer and sheep: 1. Palatability, feeding values and nutrient supply

Authors

• Liisa Syrjälä-Qvist Department of Animal Husbandry, University of Helsinki 00710 Helsinki 71, Finland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.72096

Abstract

The utilization of silages prepared from grass at three different growth stages was studied with three adult reindeer and three adult sheep. Palatability, digestibility and nitrogen balance trials were performed according to the Latin-square design. As the different silages were similar in chemical composition and quality, the results are mainly expressed and discussed as the averages for all three. The intake of silage dry matter(DM) by the reindeer averaged 938 g/day and the intake by the sheep 1787g/day. These values corresponded to intakes of about 3.7kg and 7.1kg fresh silage, and 16g and 27g DM/kg liveweight, respectively. The total water consumption (water from feed + water drunk) for the reindeer was 5 g/kg DM eaten and for the sheep 3kg. The digestibility of the different silage constituents was similar in the reindeer and sheep, but the apparent digestibility of crude protein was significantly (P<0.05) lower in the reindeer (69 %) than in the sheep (75 %), as were also the other criteria describing the protein utilization. The nitrogen balance was negative in the reindeer, -1.8g/day, but positive in the sheep, +4.7g/day. The criteria of energy utilization were similar in the reindeer and sheep. It seemed that silage prepared at an early growth stage is a good supplemental feed for reindeer, while for sheep it can be used as the only feed.