THE BOTANICAL AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF HERBAGE SAMPLES OBTAINED FROM SHEEP FITTED WITH OESOPHAGEAL FISTULAE

Abstract

The botanical and chemical composition of herbage collected from sheep fitted with oesophageal fistulae was compared with the composition of herbage offered and rejected in pen feeding trials. The sampling variance of macerated botanical samples compared favourably with expected values from a binomial distribution. High correlations were obtained between actual and calculated values for soluble carbohydrates, crude protein and cellulose in fistula samples.