The best (P < 0.05) digestion coefficients were associated with the T4 and T5 diets.
No differences in digestion coefficients (DM, OM, NDF, ADF) were found between sheep and goats, except for CP and to a lesser extent Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL).
Orally dosing with chromium oxide powder was used as an external inert marker for calculation of apparent dry matter and nutrient digestion coefficients.
Differences in ADL digestion coefficients between sheep and goats support Howe's suggestion that goats may have a mechanism to attenuate the undesirable effects of lignin (Howe et al. 1988).
Digestion coefficients of DM, organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) were increased by CS at 2 g/kg BW, while neutral detergent fiber (aNDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were similar among treatments.
Similarly with nutrient digestion coefficients, there were no differences among treatments, while cassava chip gave a slightly higher intake of urea-treated rice straw than corn cob fed group.
Chemical composition values and digestion coefficients obtained in the present study are in phase with reported data about the relatively good nutritional value of different ash tree species as forage in the Mediterranean region for ruminants (Masson and Decaen 1980; Papachristou 1996).
Data compilations from the literature have so far not supported the conclusion that larger animals achieve higher digestion coefficients (Pérez-Barbería et al., 2004; Clauss & Hummel, 2005; Clauss et al., 2009).
