INTAKE AND DIGESTIBILITY OF DIFFERENT FORAGES IN LLAMAS COMPARED TO SHEEP

Results of four trials, in which intake and digestibility of nine roug hages had been measured, were pooled to make a comparison between llam as and sheep fed dry forages. Llamas and sheep ingest, on average, sim ilar levels of dry matter: 15.8 against 17.7 g DM/kg LW, or 49.2 again st 51.1 g DM/kg LW0.75. The values for each species are significantly related, but with a low slope, llamas ingest more straw and a lower qu antity of high-graded forages than sheep. Overall mean digestibility i n llamas is better than in sheep: +2.5 points for OM and +4.3 for cell walls. Digestibilities in both species are well correlated, with an i mportant difference for the low-graded, but no difference for high-gra ded forages. The mean level of non-digestible crude protein content of diets is higher by 4 g/kg DM in llamas than in sheep. For each specie s the intake and digestibilities are positively related to the crude p rotein content of the roughages and negatively to their NDF content. ( (C) Elsevier/Inra.).