Sheep were used in a short term pen trial to determine the germinability and the viability of leafy spurge seeds after spending various times in the rumen and exposure to acid pepsin. Seeds were collected from leafy spurge plants during three stages of development (soft dough, hard dough, and mature) and fed to rumenally cannulated ewes. Three trials were run with seeds from one stage of development fed to 5 sheep. All fecal material was collected for 6 days following seeds being fed. These samples were used to determine in the viability and germination after passing through the GI tract. Sixteen nylon bags containing 100 seeds each were placed in the rumen of each of the sheep to test residence time and acid pepsin digestion.
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