Influence of the physical properties of straw pellets on their digestibility and passage rate of Cr2O3 in sheep

By means of pelleting them one to four times (press G 600) and adding 20% sugar beet chips and 3% ammonia hydrogen carbonate at varying loose density (357-561 kg/m3) 4 straw pellet charges were produced. Significant differences could be ascertained for these pellets with regard to the fineness coefficient (I-IV 1.67; 1.30; 1.19; 0.83), hardness of pellets (5.4; 8.8; 9.4; 18.6 N/m2/10(5) and partly the loose volume. After testing four wethers per group, an energy concentration in the same sequence was ascertained as follows: 409, 388, 377 and 382 EFUcattle/kg dry matter. Apart from a higher crude fibre digestibility of groups I and II compared to III there were no significant differences in the digestibility. The measuring of feed passage time with the help of Cr2O3 did not result in directed differences. On an average of all groups, 80% of the Cr2O3 excretion was achieved after 70.5 +/- 0.7 h. The mean retention time of Cr2O3 in the digestive tract in all four groups was in average 53.3 +/- 1.2 hours. The different fineness degrees and values of the hardness of straw pellets remained without significant effects on the feed value of the straw pellets in the experiments with sheep.