Table 2 Chemical analysis of rumen content of 19 completely emaciated reindeer carcasses. The carcasses are grouped according to their content of grass in rumen, which in turn is related to whether the animals were fed grass silage or not. Chemical composition is given as % of dry matter (mean and SD). Asterisk (*) denotes statistically significant differences (p < 0.05).
Grass content in rumen | Dry matter (%) | Ash | Crude protein | Hemicelluloses (NDF-ADF) | Celluloses (ADF-ADL) | Lignin (ADL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean: 76% Range: 47–94% (n = 11) | 14.1 (3.3) | 11.5 (1.8) | 22.7 (3.8) | 22.9 (3.0) | 16.3 (2.4) | 15.9 (5.2) |
Mean: 9% Range: 1–28% (n = 8) | 19.1* (3.4) | 8.9* (1.6) | 22.5 (2.8) | 19.4* (2.6) | 14.4 (1.0) | 22.9* (3.1) |