The effects of pelleting hay upon feed intake, digestibility, growth rate and energy retention of lambs

This paper reports three trials that evaluated the effects of pelleting hay upon feed intake, digestibility, growth rate and energy utilisation of 7-9 month old, castrated male lambs. In the first trial, hay and pellets were compared on three feeding levels. The second study had a similar arrangement of treatments and an additional comparison of two types of hay. The third trial had three treatments with different combinations of whole hay and pellets ad libitum. In the first two trials the lambs were individually fed, and in vivo digestibility was measured. In the third trial, feed intake was measured on a group basis. Pelleting increased ad libitum feed intake by 40-75%. Digestibility was negatively affected by pelleting, but the overall effect of pelleting on growth rate was positive. Measurements of energy retention indicate that the negative effect of pelleting on digestibility was compensated by better utilisation of digestible energy into net energy.