The effects of various forms of gastrointestinal cannulation on digestive measurements in sheep

1. There was little difference in digestive (voluntary food intake, dry matter digestibility and nitrogen balance) and blood measurements (venous concentrations of corticosteroids, serum aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1), protein-bound iodine, urea and glucose) of intact sheep (eight animals) and of sheep prepared with rumen cannular (sixteen animals) and subsequently with either simple 'T-shaped' (eight animals) or re-entrant cannulas (eight animals) at the duodenum and ileum, when fed ad lib. a chopped medium-quality-hay ration. 2. Wool growth rates of the intact sheep were similar to those in sheep with rumen cannulas and with rumen cannulas plus simple 'T-shaped' cannulas, but higher (P less than 0-01) than those with rumen cannulas plus re-entrant cannulas. 3. When the sheep were subsequently given a restricted intake (800 g/d) of dried grass, retention times of solid- and liquid-phase digesta markers in the rumen and caecum were similar in all sheep. 4. The use of the different preparations in digestive physiology studies is discussed.