NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF DRIED RUMEN DIGESTA CONCENTRATE FOR RUMINANT

An evaluation of nutritional value of rumen digesta in ruminant diets was investigated in 5 Experiments. Experiment I, the effect of four different treatment methods (sun-dried, oven-dried, fermented, and urea-fermented) on chemical composition, in vitro digestibility and microbial quality of Rumen digesta from the Bolgatanga abattoir collected in four climatic seasons (early wet season [EWS], main wet season [MWS], early dry season [EDS], and late dry season [LDS]. The experiment was conducted as a 4*4 factorial in a completely randomized design. The two-way interaction effect of season and processing methods had a significant effect on DM, CP, EE, Ash, NDF, and ADF. The crude protein values obtained were 17.58, 22.26, 15.25 and 8.42% for early wet, main wet, early dry and late dry seasons respectively. The crude protein values obtained for the methods were 14.72, 14.36, 13.96 and 20.45 for sun-dried, oven-dried, fermented and urea-fermented methods respectively. The main effect of processing method and season had a significant effect on digestible organic matter. The urea-fermented processing method consistently recorded a higher IVDOM. The processing methods all resulted in a significant reduction of microbial population in the dried rumen digesta. The decline in Salmonella spp. and E. coli concentration was in the range of 90-100% for all the processing methods with oven drying and urea fermented methods recording a 100% reduction in both microorganisms. In experiment II, two rumen digesta processing methods (Unpelleted and Pelleted) and different inclusion levels (0, 5, 10 and 15%) were used to assess the effects on the chemical composition and microbial load on dried rumen digesta. The experiment was conducted as a 2*4 factorial in a completely randomized design. Processing methods and DRD inclusion levels had a significant (P