• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.194-200
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• 2014

This study investigated the chemical composition and ruminal degradability of corn stover in three maize-planting regions in Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang Province, China. The whole stover was separated into seven morphological fractions, i.e., leaf blade, leaf sheath, stem rind, stem pith, stem node, ear husk, and corn tassel. The assessment of nutritive value of corn stover and its fractions was performed based on laboratory assays of the morphological proportions, chemical composition, and in situ degradability of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF). The chemical composition of corn stover was significantly different from plant top to bottom (p<0.05). Among the whole corn stover and seven morphological fractions, leaf blade had the highest crude protein (CP) content and the lowest NDF and ADF contents (p<0.05), whereas stem rind had the lowest CP content and the highest ADF and acid detergent lignin (ADL) contents (p<0.05). Ear husk had significantly higher NDF content and relatively lower ADL content than other corn stover fractions. Overall, the effective degradability of DM, NDF, and ADF in rumen was the highest in leaf blade and stem pith, followed by ear husk. The results indicate that leaf blade, ear husk, and stem pith potentially have higher nutritive values than the other fractions of corn stover. This study provides reference data for high-efficiency use of corn stover in feeding ruminants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.83-87
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• 2003

The study evaluates the enzymatic dry matter (DM) degradability and water holding capacity of leaf and stem fractions of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) at different growth stages with or without the presence of surfactant Tween 80. While Tween 80 significantly (p<0.05) increased water and enzyme holding capacities in the leaf blades fraction, less was observed in the fraction of leaf sheath and stem of orchardgrass. The enzyme holding capacity in the leaves was also altered more than that for water holding capacity. This resulted in the increased rate and extent of enzymatic hydrolysis of the leaf blade fractions at two growth stages, whereas little was with leaf sheath and stem fractions. It was also observed that at 0.005% concentrations of Tween 80 the enzymatic DM degradability of young leaf blades was higher (p<0.05) by 20-30% compared to that of the control, as well as for water and enzyme holding capacity. For matured leaf blades the DM degradability were increased with over 0.01% concentrations of the surfactant, but the increase was less than leaf blades of young orchardgrass. This result suggests the possibility of using the surfactant Tween 80 to improve forage digestibility in the rumen.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.999-1009
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• 2022

Objective: To improve the feeding value of rice straw (RS), this study evaluated the potential of rice straw fermented with Pleurotus sajor-caju (FRS) as dairy goat feed. Methods: Spent Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate was used as fungi inoculum to break the lignocellulose linkage of rice straw, which was solid-fermented at 25℃ to 30℃ for 8 weeks. The ruminal degradation of pangolagrass hay (PG), FRS, and RS were measured in situ for 96 hours in three dry Holstein cows, respectively. Effect of fungi fermented RS on milking performance was studied in feeding trials. A total of 21 Alpine goats a trial were divided into 3 groups: a control group in which PG accounted for 15% of the diet dry matter, and FRS or RS was used to replace the PG in the control group. Goats were fed twice a day under two 28-day trial in individual pens. Meanwhile, a 3×3 Latin square trial (14 days/period) was conducted to study the rumen digestion of three diets by using three fistulated dry goats. Rumen contents were collected for metabolite analyses every one to three hours on the last two days. Results: In situ study showed that fermentation could elevate the rumen degradable fraction and effective degradability of RS (p<0.05). Effective degradability of FRS dry matter was significantly increased from 29.5% of RS to 41.7%. Lactating trial results showed that dry matter intake and milk yield in the PG group and FRS group were similar and higher than those in RS group (p<0.05). The concentration of propionic acid and total volatile fatty acid in the RS group tended to be lower than those in PG group (p<0.10). There were no differences in rumen pH value and ammonia nitrogen level among the groups tested. Conclusion: Fermentation of rice straw by spent Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate could substantially enhance its feeding value to be equivalent to PG as an effective fiber source for dairy goat. The fermented rice straw is recommended to account for 15% in diet dry matter.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.889-900
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• 2010

Spices can be used as novel supplements to enhance the utilization of low quality forages (LQF) and reduce nutrient wastage by ruminant animals. However, it is essential to characterize these spices alongside LQF before testing their potential use as supplements in ruminant diets. This study characterized four spices (cinnamon, cumin, clove and turmeric) alongside three forages (rice straw, wheat straw and hay) for their chemical components before evaluating their effect at four different doses (0, 10, 30 and 90 mg/g forage DM) on the in vitro rumen degradability of dry matter (DM) (IVD) and organic matter (OM) (IVOMD) of these forages at various incubation times. It appeared that some spices could provide complementary nutrients which could improve the utilization of LQF where hay had better chemical composition than the other two forages. Cumin contained more crude protein (CP), ether extract and mineral contents whereas turmeric contained more soluble sugars than the other spices. Cinnamon was least acceptable as a ruminant supplement due to its higher condensed tannin and saponin and lower CP and mineral contents. The IVD and IVOMD were highest for hay and lowest for wheat straw with all spices at all incubation times (p<0.001). Due to relatively better nutrient profiles, cumin and turmeric had greater effect on IVD and IVOMD of the forages. In contrast, cinnamon had negative effects on IVD and IVOMD. IVD and IVOMD were greater at 10 mg/g than at other levels of most spices suggesting that using certain amounts of spices can increase forage degradability. However, the choice of a spice will depend upon the forage type being offered to ruminants. Further studies will examine the effect of these spices on fermentation profile, methane production and nitrogenous loss by ruminants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.1222-1227
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• 1999

Effect of three major cropping seasons and five fertilizer treatments on botanical composition, nutritional composition and in sacco digestibility of native grasses grown in 30 experimental plots of a medium fertile land was determined. It was observed that all the major grass species were grown in all seasons but their predominancy of growth was different. During the study the predominant grass species were Panicum repens (Angta), Fimvristylis miliacea (Joina), Cyanolis axillaries (Kanainala), Cynodon dactylon (Durba) and Cyperus iria (Phulchaise) which contributed about 27, 20, 13, 11 and 9% of the total grass yield, respectively. Dry matter (DM) contents was higher in dry followed by monsoon and summer seasons (p<0.05). Crude protein (CP) content in the summer and monsoon appeared to be higher (p<0.05) than that of dry season. Organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) were higher (p<0.05) in dry and monsoon than in summer season. Application of urea fertilizer and cowdung increased 28.2% of CP content of the grasses, but decreased 19.5 and 9.8% of DM and NDF contents, respectively. The potential degradation of DM and CP of the grasses grown in summer were 4.1 and 8.4% and 3.9 and 5.8% higher than those of monsoon and dry seasons, respectively, and both of these increased (11.3 and 5.9%, respectively) with the application of cowdung and urea fertilizer.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.5-11
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• 1993

First crop of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was harvested, wilted and ensiled with or without NaOH or $NH_3$, and fed to three rumen fistulated goats in a $3{\times}3$ Latin-square design. Each alkali treatment (2.44% of alfalfa dry matter) was made by spraying its solution prior to ensiling. Silage pH, $NH_3-N$ and butyric acid concentration were increased with each alkali addition, and NaOH-treated silage showed the lowest chemical quality. Compared with untreated silage, digestibilities of organic matter, ADF and cellulose were depressed by both alkali treatments, and the reductions in NaOH-treated silage were significant. Crude protein digestibility was also significantly decreased in NaOH-treated silage, but the goats receiving the silage excreted less nitrogen in urine than those on the other two silages. Nitrogen retention of goats was not different among the treatments. Ruminal solubility and potential degradability of dry matter and nitrogen determined with the in situ bag technique were reduced, and rate of degradation of the two components were increased by the NaOH treatment. Addition of $NH_3$ provided ruminal soluble nitrogen to the silage, but the rate of degradation was similar to that of untreated silage. These results suggest that NaOH treatment would denature the protein and reduce the susceptibility to microbial degradation in the rumen, while no positive effect of alkali treatment on fiber digestion and nitrogen utilization was observed in this study.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1619-1624
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• 2003

The effect of maize hybrid (Suco and Dekalb 765, DK 765), maturity stage (milk, $R_3$ and 1/2 milk line, $R_5$) and animal diet (Diet 1: 70% lucerne hay+30% maize silage; Diet 2: 50% maize silage+20% sunflower meal+30% maize grain) on ruminal stover dry matter (DM) degradability was studied. Additionally, morphological and chemical plant composition was evaluated. Fodder samples ground at 2 mm were incubated in three Holstein steers (400 kg body weight) using the in situ technique. Ruminal degradation kinetics was studied and the effective degradability (ED) was estimated for an assumed kp of 5%/h. The in situ data was analyzed in a complete randomized block design with the animals as blocks. Significant interactions between hybrid${\times}$diet and maturity${\times}$diet on kinetic digestion parameters were detected. In Diet 1, hybrids did not differ in degradable fraction, kd or ED, although a minor difference (p<0.05) in the soluble fraction was found (25.5 and 23.2% for Suco and DK 765, respectively). In Diet 2, the DK 765 had greater degradable fraction (p<0.001) but smaller (p<0.01) kd than Suco, without differences in the soluble fraction or in ED. Anticipating the harvest increased ED of stover from 37.5% in $R_5$ to 44.6% in $R_3$ (average values across hybrids and diets) due to the increase (p<0.001) in the soluble fraction ($R_5$: 22.6%, $R_3$: 28.8%). It is concluded that hybrids had similar stover in situ DM degradability and that soluble fraction represent the main proportion of degradable substrates. Advancing the date of harvesting may not improve the in situ DM degradability of whole maize plant silage since the increase in stover quality is counteracted by the depression in the grain-to-stover ratio. The diet of the animal consuming silage might not improve stover utilization either.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1268-1268
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• 2001

The availability of in vivo and in sacco degradability values are limited because those methods require work with fistulated animals and are rather complicated, labour intensive and expensive. That is to say, the dynamics and logistics of the methodology result in considerable work, due to limitations on the amount of samples, number of bags that can be placed in an animal and different time intervals to perform kinetic studies. Therefore, a simpler method is necessary to estimate the degradation characteristics of the feed. In this way, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy has been used to predict degradation characteristics of forages. In other hand, the possibility of achieving successful transfer of spectra and equations between instruments is closely related. The objective of this study was to confirm the potential of NIR to optimize work conditions to avoid duplicated efforts in collaborative trials on animal feeds evaluation between research institutions. For this purpose, one set with forty hays and dehydrated forages samples from SERIDA and ten samples with the same characteristics from SIA, were be used to create a spectral database. A calibration was developed using samples from degradation essays made in SERIDA to predict dry matter and crude protein degradability. With the addition of five samples from SIA in original calibration set, the effect of different origin and location was compensated.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2001

Ruminal degradation characteristics of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and crude protein (CP) in fresh leaves of two Japanese native grasses (Zoysia japonica and Miscanthus sinensis) and one sown temperate grass (Dactylis glomerata) were investigated by an in sacco method in spring (mid-May), summer (mid-July) and autumn (mid-September). Japanese native grasses had higher NDF and lower CP concentrations than D. glomerata, and the CP concentration in native grasses decreased in autumn. Ruminal degradability of DM, NDF and CP was lower in native grasses than in D. glomerata (p<0.05) in all seasons. DM and NDF degradability decreased in summer for Z. japonica and D. glomerata, while it decreased in autumn for M. sinensis. CP degradability in Z. japonica was constant throughout the seasons, whereas that in M. sinensis greatly decreased in summer and autumn (p<0.05). It was concluded that Z. japonica could stably supply ruminally digestible nutrients for grazing animals in Japanese native pasture. However, the degradation characteristics of freshly chopped native grasses did not fit the exponential model of $D=a+b(1-e^{-ct})$ proposed by Ørskov and McDonald.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1606-1613
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• 2015

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of Yerba Mate (YM) supplementation on nutrients' degradation, in vitro dry matter disappearance, gas production and rumen ammonia concentration. Three rumen-fistulated Holstein Friesian cows were used for the in situ incubations and provided rumen liquor for in vitro incubations. The inclusion of YM in a control diet (pasture+pellets) affected some in sacco degradation parameters. YM supplementation decreased the effective degradability and degradation rate of pasture crude protein (CP), and it seems to slow down the degradation of pasture neutral detergent fiber. A significant increase of degradation of pasture acid detergent fiber (ADF) was detected after YM inclusion in the control diet. YM supplementation reduced in vitro gas production of pasture and ammonia concentration of pellets. The addition of YM in ruminant diet could decrease ammonia production and increase protein availability for productive purposes. The moderate presence of tannins in YM could have affected the degradation kinetics of pasture CP and ADF and the ammonia production of pellets.