The aim of this study was to investigate if the botanical composition of haylage affects pH, dry matter content and microbial composition of the faeces in horse and pig and ileal environment in pigs. Two separate studies were conducted where pigs and horses were fed two diets containing haylages with different botanical composition. The first haylage was from a tilled land dominated by timothy and meadow fescue and the other haylage came from a meadowland with a large inclusion of dandelion, 25 % and common couch. The dry matter content (70.8 % and 73.0 % respectively) and the pH-value (5.7) were similar in both feeds.
The first study was made as a three-periods switch-back study with 7 Standardbred horses. In the first and the third period, 7 and 9 days long respectively, the diet consisted of the haylage from the tilled land, oats, sugar beet pulp, soy bean oil meal, lucerne pellets and brewers yeast. The second period, which lasted for 16 days, the horses were fed the meadowland haylage and a small amount of sugar beet pulp. Faeces were collected once in the first and the third period and twice in the second period, three days at the time.
The second study was conducted with four castrated ileum fistulated Yorkshire pigs and made up as a change-over study in two periods. The pigs were fed haylage together with a mix of maize starch, sugar, casein and rapeseed oil for two weeks with each haylage. The pigs were fitted with a Post Valve T Caecum cannula and samples were collected on day 9, 12 & 14 in each period. Samples of faeces were collected on day 8-11 in each period.
The faecal pH-value was significantly (P< 0.05) higher when horses and pigs were fed diets containing the meadowland haylage (pH 5.79 on haylage from tilled land and 6.26 on meadowland haylage). The dry matter content of the horse faeces were significantly (P< 0.05) lower on the meadow land haylage (19.5-20.6 %) the second period than on the haylage from the tilled land period I (25 %). No effects of pH-value could be observed in the caecum samples from the pigs.
The microbial populations of the faeces and digesta were investigated with Terminal ...
