Impact of EasiFlo cottonseed on feed intake, apparent digestibility, and rate of passage by goats fed a diet containing 45% hay.

EasiFlo cottonseed (ECS), produced by coating whole cottonseed (WCS) with cornstarch to simplify handling and mixing with other ingredients, is marketed commercially. The objective of this trial was to determine its digestibility by small ruminants. Four mature Nubian wether goats, in a 4 x 4 Latin square arrangement of treatments, were fed diets that contained about 45% bermudagrass hay (BGH) plus 0, 15.7, 32.7, or 50.3% ECS, with the ECS replacing corn and soybean meal (2:1 ratio) in the concentrate portion of the diet. Feed intakes and digestibility of components were measured, and passage rate was estimated using ytterbium-marked BGH. Dry matter intake decreased at an increasing rate (P < 0.01) as ECS or fat concentration in the diet increased. Digestibility was linearly depressed (P= 0.003) as ECS replaced corn and soybean meal in the diet, primarily due to depressed (P < 0.05) digestibility of NDF, ADF, and nonfibrous carbohydrates (NFC). In contrast, fat digestibility tended to increase (P = 0.11) linearly and N utilization was increased (P = 0.04) linearly as ECS concentration was increased. Passage kinetics were not altered. Based on regression estimates of TDN for BGH and literature values of TDN for other feed ingredients, the total digestible nutrient content of ECS for mature goats fed a 45% roughage diet was estimated to be 78.0 +/- 9.1%, a value quite similar to that (77.2%) proposed for whole cottonseed for large ruminants by NRC tables. Low digestibility of fiber (under 10% of NDF) and of nonfibrous carbohydrate limits the digestibility of DM and energy from ECS.