| Summary: | To investigate the effects of microwave (MW) treatment on hays nutritive value, five types of hay (50 g) were treated with MW for 0 (control), 20, 40, 60, and 80 s (0, 440, 880, 1320, and 1760 kJ kg<sup>−1</sup> of MW energy, respectively) and analyzed for nutritive value prior to scanning by an electron microscope to observe microstructure changes. The dry matter (DM) % of hays were increased with increasing treatment time (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The improved DM and digestible organic matter in the DM were recorded from MW treated lucerne (60 s), wheat (40 s), and canola (20 s) (<i>p</i> < 0.001), which might have been due to the MW ruptured cell wall. The MW energy required for maximal DM digestibility improvement was linearly related to control hay crude protein content (r<sup>2</sup> = 0.79; <i>p</i> < 0.001). Overall, the study showed MW treatment can increase some hays’ digestibility. In addition, the crude protein content from control hay may be a proxy to indicate DM digestibility improvement.
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