EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF EIGHT CROP RESIDUES AND TWO FOREST GRASSES IN GOATS AND SHEEP

Eight crop residues : 1, sorghum (Sorqhum bicolor) straw, 2, maize (Zea mays) straw, 3, cotton (Gossypium Sp.) straw, 4, sunflower (Helianthus Sp.) straw, 5, cotton (Gossypium Sp.) seed hulls, 6, groundnut (Archais hypogaea) hulls, 7, maize (Zea mays) cobs, 8, sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) bagasse and two forest grasses 9, Heteropogan contortus dry grass and 10, Sehima nervosum dry grass were subjected to three physical processing 1, chopping (2-3 cm) 2, grinding (8 mm sieve) and 3, pelleting (10 mm die holes). The processed material was fed ad lib. Along with 250 g of concentrate mixture per head per day to 6 adult local goats and 16 adult Nellore rams in ten digestion experiments and finally assessed the nutritive value of the processed roughages by difference method. Grinding increased bulk density by 32.4 (cotton seed hulls, CSH) to 88.1% (Sehima dry grass) while pelleting of ground material increased bulk density by 53.9 (maize cobs) to 235.8% (maize straw). The average particle size ranged from $584.1/^U$ (sorghum straw) to $1467/^U$ (CSH). Modulus of uniformity ranged from 2:5:3 (sorghum straw) to 7:2:1 (CSH) while modulus of fineness ranged from 3.4 (sorghum straw) to 5.4 (CSH). Molasses absorbability was highest with cotton seed hulls and least with maize cobs. Pelleting increased DM intake of the residues except cotton seed hulls compared to grinding. Grinding of chopped material/unprocessed material increased DM intake on sorghum straw and cotton seed hulls. Sheep consumed more DM compared to goats on all the residues except sorghum and sunflower straws. Pelleting increased nutritive value of all the residues compared to grinding and chopping. However, no difference was observed in the nutritive value due to grinding and chopping. Goats performed better compared to sheep in utilizing the fibrous residues.