Effects of protein supplement sources on digestibility of nutrients, balance of nitrogen and energy in goats and their in situ degradability in cattle

The experiment was conducted to determine in situ rumen degradability of soybean meal (SM), fish meal (FM), sesame cake (SC) and Italian ryegrass hay (IRGH) and the effect of supplementing the above protein meals to IRGH on digestibility and balance of nutrients in three Saanen goats. For measuring the degradability, nylon bags containing each meal were incubated in the rumen of one fistulated dry cow for 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hrs. Degradability revealed that SM protein was highly degradable in the rumen (99.1%), while FM protein was less degradable (76.8%) with SC protein being intermediate (91.2%) at 48 hrs of incubation (p < 0.01). Degradation rate of the potentially degradable fraction was estimated to be 12.12, 5.88 and 5.88%/hr for SM, FM and SC, respectively. In the metabolism trial, all goats were offered daily 900 g IRGH and one of the supplements, SM (100 g), FM (75 g) or SC (100 g). Intake of DM, OM CP and GE was similar among diets. However, digestibility of OM for SC diet was significantly lower than that for diets supplemented with FM and SM (p < 0.10). Nitrogen (N) excreted in faeces (p < 0.05) and in urine (p < 0.10) was, respectively, higher and lower for SC diet than that for the other two diets. The same tendency was observed in energy losses in faeces (p < 0.10) and in urine (p < 0.05). There was no difference in energy loss in methane or in heat production among diets. Consequently, no significant difference was observed in N retention (2.13, 0.42 and -0.11 g/day for FM, SC and SM diet, respectively) or in energy retention (-1.49, -2.14 and -2.70 MJ/day for FM, SM and SC diet, respectively). These results showed that protein supplements affected the digestion of diets based on grass hay with 7.45% CP in DM in goats, although there was no significant influence on N or energy retention.