The influence of a nylon bag carrier on alfalfa crude protein degradability

The influence of the way of nylon bag attachment on disappearance and degradability of crude protein (CP) of alfalfa hay was evaluated and PDI value was calculated. In the first experiment hay with a higher content of CP (248.8 g kg(-1) of dry matter (DM)) was used, in the second hay of lower quality (155.1 g CP kg(-1) DM) was used. Nylon bags were attached either by clamps (to a weight) to form an individual set (3 bags in a set), or to a carrier. The advantage of the proposed carrier is that the bags are more separated, which provides better conditions for fermentation. The nylon bags were incubated within 2,4,8,16,24 and 48 h intervals. Significant differences in CP disappearance were found only in the second experiment within 2 h (1.60%, P < 0.05), 4 h (2.67%, P < 0.05), and 8 h (4.69%, P < 0.01) of incubation, respectively. CP degradability was higher by 1.3% (P < 0.05), when the carrier was used. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in the calculated PDI values between clamps-to-weight and carrier attachment were also found in the second experiment only. PDIN values were 96.71 g and 96.37 g kg(-1) DM, PDIE values were 77.67 and 76.18 g kg(-1) DM, respectively.