In particular, changes in
food intake levels can have different effects on theMRT and digestibility
(fermentation) of ingested particles.Onthe one hand, anincrease infood
intake (measured as dry matter intake; DMI, g kg−0.75 d−1) can lead to
shorter ingestaMRT (h) and subsequently lower digestive efficiency (i.e.
nutrient extracted per unit of material ingested). Consequently, reduced
MRTs associated with increasing DMIs can impose an intrinsic limit on
the amount of feed the animal can ingest, thus limiting digestible dry
matter intake (DDMI, g kg−0.75 d−1). For example, Clauss et al. (2007b)
found a particularly steep negative relationship between MRT and DMI
in ruminant (sheep and cattle) and non-ruminant (hippopotamus)
foregut fermenters, which truncated their DDMIs at increasing levels
DMI.