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Meadow Vole Nutrition Studies with Alfalfa Diets¹

Departments of Crop and Soil Science and Dairy Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48823

A technique for feeding alfalfa forage to weanling meadow voles was improved by the addition of 2% cellulose gum in the formulation of the diet. Diet wastage was reduced allowing more precise intake measurements. Responses of weanlings to various percentages of alfalfa in the diet were compared to predicted responses from equations developed with semisynthetic diets. Major deviations between actual and predicted daily gains occurred at high percentages of alfalfa in the diet (73 to 93%), but followed more closely those predicted when diets were fed with less than 68% alfalfa. Voles digested 10 to 30% of the alfalfa fiber with a positive relationship to the percentage fed. Weanlings fed alfalfa forage from clones selected for high nutritive value at 48 and 83% of the diet had greater weight gain and lower fiber digestibility when compared to forages from clones selected for low nutritive value.

² Present address: Agronomy Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.

Manuscript received 12 January 1971.