THE EFFECT OF PELLETING AND WAFERING ON THE FEEDING VALUE OF ROUGHAGE-A REVIEW*

Experiments to study the effect of pelleting and wafering on the feeding value of rations containing 50% or more roughage are reviewed. Although pelleting often depresses the dry-matter digestibility of the ration, there appears to be no evidence of an alteration in the net energy value. The increased meat production and food-conversion efficiency observed with pelleted rations is caused by an increased food intake. The extent of the improvement achieved by pelleting depends on the quality of the unpelleted ration. Milk production is sometimes changed by pelleting and milk-fat percentage is depressed where finely-ground hay has been used. Wafering does not appear to change the feeding value of hay.