The nutritive value of sugar beet pulp-substituted lucerne for equids

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of sugar-beet-substituted lucerne for equids. In both experiments four mature Welsh-cross pony geldings were used in a 4 4 Latin-square design to assess the effect of sugar beet pulp (SB) on the nutritive value of either high-temperature dried (HT) lucerne (Experiment 1) or ensiled lucerne (Experiment 2) for equids. Both experiments consisted of four levels of SB substitution: 0 [DC], 100 [SB10], 200 [SB20] and 300 [SB30] g/kg DM for Experiment 1, and 0 [WS], 100 [SB1], 200 [SB2] and 300 [SB3] g/kg DM for Experiment 2. Each diet was fed to give a total DM intake of 17.5 g/kg of liveweight per day, offered in two equal meals at 12-h intervals. Digestibility was determined by total faecal collection. SB substitution of HT and ensiled lucerne increased (P