Table 2.
Effects of feeder design on hay intake and apparent digestibility, Exp. 1
| Feeder design1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item | OBSR | POLY | RING | BASK | SEM2 | P-value |
| No. of bales measured3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||
| Intake4 | ||||||
| DMI, kg/d | 8.16 | 8.42 | 8.78 | 8.40 | 0.49 | 0.06 |
| DMI, % BW | 1.62 | 1.67 | 1.74 | 1.67 | 0.05 | 0.12 |
| DOMI, kg/d | 10.6a | 10.8a | 11.5b | 10.6a | 0.29 | 0.01 |
| DOMI, % BW | 0.95a | 0.97a | 1.03b | 0.95a | 0.03 | 0.01 |
| Apparent Digestibility5 | ||||||
| DM, % | 56.0 | 55.6 | 57.0 | 54.6 | 1.7 | 0.82 |
| OM, % | 58.7 | 58.2 | 59.3 | 57.0 | 1.8 | 0.86 |
1OBSR = conventional open bottom steel ring feeder; POLY = polyethylene pipe open bottom ring feeder; RING = sheeted bottom steel ring feeder; BASK = sheeted bottom feeder with basket feature.
2SEM of the Least squares means.
3Hay waste measured for two bales during each period over four periods.
4DMI = daily dry matter intake, kg/d; DMI, % BW = daily dry matter intake expressed as a percentage of BW; DOMI, kg/d = daily digestible organic matter intake, kg/d; DOMI, % BW = daily digestible organic matter intake expressed as a percentage of BW.
5DM = dry matter digestibility, % of total DM; OM = organic matter digestibility, % of total OM.
a,bWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ (P ≤ 0.03).