Rumen Digestive Capability of Zebu Steers in Wet and Dry Seasons

Abstract

Most authors have suggested that the rumen's capability to digest foodstuff is influenced by the conditions resulting from microbial populations which are regulated by composition of the diets. Presumably the greatest ecological differences within the rumens of cattle grazing tropical semiarid range plants would be during wet and dry seasons. Rumen dry matter digestion indexes were determined by the nylon bag technique during wet and dry seasons for 4 different plant materials at the National Range Research Station near Kiboko, Kenya. The rumen digestive capability of 3 Zebu steers was not different between wet and dry seasons when these rumen fistulates selected their own foods from natural range vegetation.