
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stanton, R. 
A1  - Piltz, J. 
A1  - Pratley, J. 
A1  - Kaiser, A. 
A1  - Hudson, D. 
A1  - Dill, G. 
T1  - Annual ryegrass (<emph type="2">Lolium rigidum</emph>) seed survival and digestibility in cattle and sheep
JF  - Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture
JO  - Aust. J. Exp. Agric.
Y1  - 2002
VL  - 42
IS  - 2
SP  - 111
EP  - 115
KW  - germination.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/EA01069 
N2  - A trial was conducted to investigate the survival and digestibility of annual ryegrass (ARG) seed (Lolium rigidum L.) eaten by sheep and cattle. Sheep (n= 8) and cattle (n = 8) were fed a basal diet containing 1:1 lucerne chaff:oaten chaff with (ARG) or without (control) the inclusion of 20% total dry matter of annual ryegrass seed in a changeover design. Intake was restricted to 17 g/kg liveweight. Digestibility of the control diet was lower (P&#60;0.01) for sheep than cattle. Annual ryegrass seed was present (P&#60;0.01) in the faeces of both sheep and cattle within 24 h of first ingestion. Some 10.8 and 32.8% of seed ingested was excreted by sheep and cattle respectively, with 3.9% (sheep) and 11.9% (cattle) remaining germinable. Annual ryegrass seed continued to be excreted by both sheep and cattle up to 5 days after removal from the diet. Dry matter digestibility of the annual ryegrass diet was 53% in cattle. 
ER  -

