THE EFFECT OF RICE STRAW-POULTRY MANURE SILAGE AND BARLEY ON THE NITROGEN DIGESTION AND MICROBIAL PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN THE RUMEN OF SHEEP

Three sheep fitted with rumen cannulae and abomasal cannulae were given daily 750 g (DM) of three diets consisting of straw-manure silage and barley mixture in the ratios of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75. As the proportion of barley in the diet increased, there was an increase in the amount of OM apparently digested in the rumen and thole tract (P<.01). But ADF digestion was decreased. For the 25:75 diet the $NH_3-N$ content in the rumen showed the highest value, but the total VFA was the lowest. The rumen volume and dilution rate increased with increasing ratio of silage in diets. There were no significant differences between diets in abomasal NAN flow, and the bacterial-N for the 25:75 diet was 7.3 g N as compared with 9.2-9.6 g N for the other diets (P<.01). Rates of bacterial nitrogen synthesis in the rumen were 30.5, 24.1 and 14.9 g N per Kg OM apparently digested in the rumen for the 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 diets, respectively.