INTAKE AND DIGESTIBILITY BY SHEEP OF MATURE GRASS ALONE AND IN COMBINATION WITH 2 TROPICAL LEGUMES

The effect of combining two tropical legumes of contrasting quality, D esmodium ovalifolium CIAT 350 and Stylosanthes capitata cv. Capica, wi th a mature grass, Andropogon gayanus, on intake and digestibility by sheep was studied. Intake of mature A. gayanus was low and did not inc rease when D. ovalifolium or S. capitata was included in the forage of fered. When either legume comprised >20% of the forage offered there w as a substitution effect, particularly with D. ovalifolium, which is o f lower quality S. capitata. Total dry matter (DM) intake was not incr eased by inclusion of D. ovalifolium, but linearly with the percentage of S. capitata. Apparent DM, fibre, and crude protein digestibility o f the total diet were increased with increases in the proportion of S. capitata in the forage offered and consumed, which was not the case w ith D. ovalifolium.