Wheat, a tetany prone forage, and orchardgrass, a non-tetany prone
forage, were cut at three stages of maturity to determine the magnesium
availability in these forages for lambs. The forages were dried in
forced air ovens and ground through a 2.5 cm screen. The nitrogen contents
of the forages were not significantly different between forages
but decreased quadratically with maturity in wheat (P < .Ol) and
linearly in orchardgrass (P < .Ol). Nonprotein nitrogen was significantly
higher in wheat than in orchardgrass. The magnesium content
of the wheat was lower (P < .O1) than orchardgrass (.14 vs .21%).
Magnesium content in wheat was similar at all maturities but decreased
with maturity in orchardgrass. Potassium, calcium and phosphorous
levels in the forages were similar between wheat and orchardgrass but
decreased with advancing maturity in both forages.
In two metabolism trials with 18 wether lambs, the biological availability of magnesium was determined for the two forages cut at
three stages of maturity. The biological availability of magnesium for lambs fed wheat was slightly lower than for those fed orchardgrass.
It increased linearly with increasing maturity in wheat (P < .O1)
and tended to decrease with maturity in orchardgrass. In the first
two maturities of wheat, the biological availability of magnesium was
approximately 22% and for the third maturity it approached 39%. In orchardgrass, it was 36, 34 and 28% for maturities l, 2 and 3, respectively.
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