Eight crossbred steers fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulas were randomly assigned to two replicated 4 x 4 Latin squares to evaluate the effects of crude protein (CP) levels on intake and total, ruminal and intestinal digestibility of nutrients. Animals were fed a control diet containing Tifton 85 bermudagrass hay or the control diet supplemented with urea (NPN diet), soybean meal (SBM diet) or corn gluten meal-60 (CGM diet). Indigestible acid detergent fiber was used as the internal marker for measuring duodenal flow of dry matter, ruminal and intestinal digestibility, and fecal output of nutrients. Total fecal collection was used to determine total tract digestibility of nutrients. Nutrient intakes (DM, OM, CP, TC, NDF, ADF, and GE) did not differ among diets. However, apparent total tract digestibility of acid detergent fiber was greater on CGM (55.48%) than on SBM diet (41.29%). Except for CP, ruminal digestibilities of all remaining nutrients were similar across diets. Intestinal digestibility of CP on SBM (66.70%) and CGM diets (80.25%) were higher than that on the NPN diet (57.61%). It can be concluded that supplementation with different protein sources did not change intake (except for CP and nonfiber carbohydrates) and the partial digestibility of nutrients (except for CP).
corn gluten meal; duodenal flow; indigestible acid detergent fiber; soybean meal; urea
