Comparison of fresh and dried Digitaria decumbens grass intake and digestion by Black-belly rams

The intake and digestion of fresh and dried Digitaria decumbens grass by rams was compared using a 2×2 factorial design. The experiment took place in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) in 1996. Eight rams (mean liveweight: 45·7±3·1 kg) were maintained in metabolism cages. Digitaria decumbens grass was cut daily and distributed to four of them, the other four were fed the following day with the equivalent forage which had meanwhile been dried for 20 h at 60°C. Chemical composition (g/kg of dry matter (DM)) of the two diets based on neutral detergent fibre (NDF, 713, S.E. 18), acid detergent fibre (ADF, 361, S.E. 13) and crude protein (CP, 90, S.E. 4) was similar. The DM intake (61·0 and 53·2 g/W0·75, S.E. 2·0, P