Digestibility of sawdust estimated by the nylon bag technique

The digestibilities of sawdust from one hardwood species, Spotted Gum (Eucalyptus maculata), and two softwood species, Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and Pinus pinaster, were estimated by the nylon bag technique. The dry matter digestibilities were 8.3, 1.7 and 4.4%, respectively. Lignin concentration was possibly a major factor affecting digestibility as the values were 16.4,32.3 and 27.8%, respectively. For each species the ruminal digestion was completed within 48 h.