Rumen passage kinetics of forage- and concentrate-derived fiber in dairy cows

Rumen passage kinetics of forage and concentrate fiber were analyzed to determine intrinsic feed effects and extrinsic ration effects on the retention time of fiber in the rumen. Sixteen Danish Holstein cows (557 ± 37 kg of body weight, 120 ± 21 d in milk, mean ± SD), 8 fitted with ruminal cannulas, were used in a completely randomized block experiment. Treatments differed in forage type (corn silage vs. grass silage) and forage:concentrate ratio (50:50 vs. 75:25 on organic matter basis). Fiber passage kinetics were studied based on rumen evacuations and on marker excretion profiles in feces fitted to 1 and 2 pool models. Each cow received ytterbium (Yb)-labeled fiber of the forage fed in the ration, samarium (Sm)-labeled fiber of the forage not fed in the ration, and concentrate fiber labeled with lanthanum (La), all as a single pulse dose. Nineteen fecal grab samples were taken per cow. Rumen liquid passage was studied using chromium-EDTA dosed as a single pulse into the rumen, followed by sampling of rumen liquid from both the ventral and medial rumen. Rumen mean retention time did not differ between forages when based on Yb-excretion profiles but was numerically longer for grass silage- than for corn silage-based rations using rumen evacuation data. Liquid rate of passage did not differ when calculated from medial or ventral rumen liquid samples, indicating that estimates for the probability of rumen liquid escape were independent of rumen sampling site. Total mean retention time decreased from forage fiber to concentrate fiber to liquid. The forage type itself (corn silage or grass silage) rather than the ration composition seemed to determine the total-tract retention time of forage fiber.