Comparison of in vitro Gas Production, Organic Matter Digestibility, Relative Feed Value and Metabolizable Energy Contents of Some Cereal Forages

The aim of this study was to compare the chemical composition, in vitro gas production, metabolizable energy (ME) organic matter digestibility (OMD), relative feed values (RFV) of the cereal forages from maize, sorghum, wheat, barley, oats, rye and triticale. Gas production were determined at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h and their kinetics were described using the equation y = a+b(1-e(-ct)). There were significant differences among cereal hay in terms of chemical composition (P<0.01). The crude protein content of cereal forages ranged from 7.2 to 8.8%; ether extract from 2.6 to 3.1%; crude ash from 5.4 to 6.9%; neutral detergent fiber (NDF) from 46.6 to 55.9%; acid detergent fiber (ADF) from 24.9 to 32.6% and acid detergent lignin (ADL) from 6.3 to 8.1%. Total gas production ranged from 66.6 to 76.8 ml/200 mg DM, ME from 9.1 to 10.9 MJ/kg DM, organic matter digestibility (OMD) from 63.9 to 76.8% and relative feed values (RFV) from 105.8 to 138.7. As a result of this research it has been determined that the total gas production, ME, OMD and RFV of oats, wheat and maize were significantly higher than the other cereal forages (P<0.01).