The objectives of this experiment were to determine dry matter intake (DMI), apparent digestibility of dry matter (ADMD), organic matter (ADOM), neutral detergent fiber (ADNDF), in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) and protein and carbohydrate fractions of Bermuda grass hay harvested at 21, 42, 63 and 84 days. The experimental design used to estimate the feed intake and the apparent digestibility was a 4 x 4 Latin square and to evaluate age effect was used regression analysis. Dry matter intake (DMI) and apparent digestibility of DM, OM, CP and NDF showed a negative linear response for harvest age. Results for in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) were similar to apparent digestibility. Protein and the carbohydrate C fractions increased with harvest age and average values ranged from 17.4 to 22.8 and 10.9 to 14.3%, respectively. B3 protein fraction increased with harvest age and B2 fraction showed little variation with harvest age. A and B1 carbohydrate fractions decreased with harvest age. Results for DMI were 2.4, 2.2, 2.1 and 1.1% and for IVDMD were 60.5, 58.8, 56.3 and 53.8% for the 28, 42, 63 and 84 days of harvest age, respectively.
apparent digestibility; Cynodon; acid detergent fiber; neutral detergent fiber; neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein; IVDMD
