Protein digestibility in sheep and cattle in north-western Australia

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted at Kimberley Research Station, Western Australia, one with local Shorthorn cattle and two with Peppin Merino sheep from the Abydos region of Western Australia, to study the protein digestibility of various combinations of low-quality roughage and protein-rich concentrates. The relationship between the crude protein and digestible crude protein content of the feed was for cattle : % DCP = 0.832% CP - 1.58 and for sheep : % DCP = 0.865% CP - 2.21 indicating a higher ability to digest protein compared with previous values in the literature for cattle and sheep. It is suggested that the difference may be due to a high degree of adaptation to semi-arid conditions of local sheep and cattle in north-western Australia.