silage increased ruminal propionate, butyrate and total SCFA concentrations compared with hay, indicating differences in
ruminal fermentation with silage than with hay.
Ruminal ammonia-N concentrations were above the range (0.60–1.59 mM ammonia-N) considered by Satter and Slyter
(1974) to be sufficient for microbial protein synthesis. Feeding different forms of M. oleifera decreased ruminal ammonia-N
concentration compared with the control diet, which could be related to the lower protein degradability of M. oleifera in
the rumen vs. sesame meal (Kholif et al., 2015). Consistent with our results, Mader et al. (1998) reported higher soluble
and degradable protein in silage vs. hay from the same forage. In the present study, differences were noted in ammonia-N
concentration of M. oleifera silage and hay without any difference in their CP digestibility. Results of decreasing ammonia-N
concentration with decreasing total SCFA concentration is evidence of improved synchronization between dietary energy
and protein, which is expected to increase microbial-N production within the rumen (Seo et al., 2013). Some studies reported
limited effects of synchrony in ruminants (Kim et al., 1999).