Comparative digestibility and gas production kinetics of Tifton 85 hay in donkeys and horses.

The research article aims to understand the difference in digestibility and gas production of Tifton 85 hay in donkeys and horses. The study concludes that there is not much difference in the digestibility of higher quality hay between the two species, however, when the quality of hay decreases, donkeys show better efficiency in digesting the fiber fraction.

Research Objective

• The study was conducted to verify the difference in digestibility and gas production of Tifton 85 hay in horses and donkeys. Specifically, the researchers wanted to identify if the Nordestino ecotype of donkeys exhibited superior digestive efficiency compared to horses.

Methodology

• The researchers used four donkeys and four horses in this study. They applied a 2 × 2 factorial completely randomized design with two Equidae species and evaluated the outcome on two different maturity stages of hay: higher quality “Hay 1″ and lower quality “Hay 2″.
• The total feces collection method and the in vitro gas production technique were used to determine the digestibility and gas production, respectively.

Findings

• The study found that there was no significant difference in the digestibility of Hay 1 between horses and donkeys.
• However, with Hay 2, the crude protein and neutral detergent insoluble protein were digested differently by the two species, with horses showing higher percentages to donkeys.
• Both species showed an increased production of total gas volume when fed higher quality hay.
• The volume production related to digestible fiber fraction of the lower quality hay was higher, and horses showed higher gas volume of the non-fiber carbohydrate fraction and greater total gas production with the higher quality hay.

Conclusion

• The study concluded that Nordestino ecotype donkeys, when fed as horses with 2 % of their live weight per day of higher quality hay, showed comparable digestibility profiles as horses.
• However, when fed lower quality hay, the donkeys exhibited better digestive efficiency of the fiber fraction, indicating an adaptation to poorer quality feed sources.