E. Amirteymouri - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
A. Khezri - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
R. Tahmasbi - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.
O. Dayani - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran.

This study was conducted to determine the chemical composition, digestibility, degradability and nutritive value of madder, Rubia tinctorum L.  and alfalfa Medicago sativa. using in vitro and in situ measurements. The mean values for OM, CP, NDF, ADF and EE were 892.5, 172.0, 306.5, 219.4 and 16.0 g/kg DM for madder hay, and 921.3, 141.4, 482.0, 361.1 and 6.50 g/kg DM for alfalfa hay, respectively (P<0.05). The mean digestibility coefficients for DM and OM, DOMD and ME in madder hay (664.6, 556.4, 490.7 g/kg and 7.81 MJ/kg DM) were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those for alfalfa hay (510.9, 441.7, 403.6 g/kg and 6.47 MJ/kg DM, respectively). The effective degradability of dry matter (EDDM) of madder hay (63.25 %) was also significantly higher (P<0.05) than alfalfa hay (48.32 %). The average nutritive value indexes (NVI) of DM and CP for madder hay (50.59 and 70.82 %) was higher than alfalfa hay (40.60 and 65.21%, respectively). In conclusion, considering chemical composition, kinetic digestion and degradation data, madder hay has the potential to be used as a suitable forage source for small farmers during critical periods of year when feed resources are limited, especially in semiarid areas.

madder hay, alfalfa hay, in situ degradability, in vitro digestibility