Experimental Rations and Animals 



Nine animals were used to determine the nutritive value of the hays 

 over the two-year period. They were a pair of identical twin Guernsey 

 steers, a pair of twin Jersey steers, two Holstein steers, and three adult 

 wethers. Four steers were used each year in a balanced experimental 

 design. The identical twin Guernsey steers were used in both the first 

 and second year of the experiment. The sheep were used for the deter- 

 mination of the nutritive values of the first year hays, and the values so 

 obtained were compared with corresponding values from cattle. The 

 relative acceptability of the hays was determined using the same adult 

 wethers. 



The redtop hays were grown with 100 pounds of nitrogen fertiliza- 

 tion per acre. They were harvested at two different stages of maturity 

 the first year, and three stages of maturity during the second year of the 

 experiment. The dates of first cutting were June 15 and June 30, and the 

 aftermath was cut July 30. During the first year there was no aftermath 

 cutting because of a severe drought. All hays were heat-dried for uni- 

 formity. They were chopped and thoroughly mixed before being trans- 

 ported into the laboratory in large burlap bags. The hays were fed to 

 the animals twice a day at which time an aliquot sample was taken to 

 composite for chemical analysis. The methods followed in this experi- 

 ment were those used in previous research reported from this laboratory 

 (1,6,12). 



