• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1449-1457
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• 2018

Objective: The objective was to evaluate feed intake, digestibility, body weight change and carcass characteristics of sheep fed a basal diet of hay supplemented with banana leaves and silver leaf desmodium. Methods: Thirty yearling lambs with an average initial body weight of $15.85{\pm}1.6kg$ were grouped into six blocks of five rams in each block. The treatments were: hay alone (T1), hay+100% banana leaf (T2), hay+67% banana leaf+33% desmodium leaf (T3), hay+33% banana leaf+67% desmodium leaf (T4), andhay+100% desmodium leaf (T5). Three hundred grams of treatment diets were offered daily on as fed basis. The feeding and digestibility trials lasted for 84 and 7 days, respectively, followed by carcass evaluation. Results: The total dry matter (DM) intake for T3, T4, and T5 were greater (p<0.05) than those fed T1 and T2 diets. The lowest (p<0.05) organic matter (OM) intake was recorded in rams reared on T1 diet. The total crude protein (CP) intake was in the following order: T5>T4>T3>T2>T1. Ram lambs receiving supplementary diets had higher (p<0.05) DM, OM, CP, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber digestibility compared with the control diet. The empty body weight and slaughter weight was highest (p<0.05) in rams receiving T3, T4, and T5 diets. The average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency was highest (p<0.05) in rams receiving the supplementary diets. The dressing percentage on the basis of hot carcass weight linearly increased with increasing levels of desmodium. Rams reared on supplementary diet had higher (p<0.05) rib eye area compared with the control diet. Conclusion: In conclusion, when banana leaf is used as a supplement to poor quality grass, better body weight gain was obtained when fed in combination with desmodium.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.697-701
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• 1998

In order to improve silage quality and utilization of napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) by goats, the grass was ensiled with molasses (MOL) and/or defatted rice bran (DRB). Napier grass was harvested at the growing stage in July and cut into 3 cm length. The grass was mixed with 4% MOL and/or 15% DRB, ensiled 15 kg each into plastic bags and stored for 9 months. Dry matter content of the silage ensiled with MOL (MOL-silage) was 13.4%, but increased to 20% with DRB addition. The addition of MOL decreased pH value and ammonia nitrogen content, but increased lactic acid content. MOL-silage contained about 6% spoilage, but addition of DRB decreased spoilage to less than 1%. Goats were fed the silage at a level of 2.25% (DM basis) of their body weight. Goats fed DRB- or MOL/DRB-silages maintained nitrogen retention, but goats fed MOL-silage did not. The rumen fluid of goats fed DRB-silage tended to be higher in acetic acid and lower in propionic acid than those fed the other silages. Ammonia in the rumen fluids, urea nitrogen in the blood and the urinary nitrogen excretion were the lowest in goats fed MOL/DRB-silage. As the result, the ratio of retained nitrogen to nitrogen intake was the highest in goats fed MOL/DRB-silage. In conclusion, addition of DRB to napier grass increased DM of silage and decreased the volume of spoilage. The combination of MOL and DRB can improve the fermentation quality and thus enhance the utilization of the silage by goats, more than the MOL or DRB being as a single treatment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.487-489
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• 2000

An experiment was conducted for 56 days using nine castrated male Black Bengal goats (initial live weight 9.0 kg) aged about 5 months to study the effects of feeding Sesbania leaves as a sole feed on growth performance and nutrient utilization. The animals were fed ad libitum on either road-side grass, Sesbania aculeata leaves or Sesbania rostrata leaves. Average dry matter (DM) intake was 179, 229 and 259 g/d for goats fed road-side grass, Sesbania aculeata and Sesbania rostrata, respectively. Corresponding mean values for average daily live weight change were -6.6, 9.5 and 38.1 g, respectively. These values were higher (p<0.05) for goats fed Sesbania leaves than those given road-side grass. The apparent digestibility of all the proximate components except CF and the concentrations of DCP, TDN, DOM and ME of Sesbania leaves were higher (p<0.05) than those of road-side grass. Sesbania rostrata was superior (p<0.05) to Sesbania aculeata for nutrient digestibilities (except for NFE) and also for DOM, DCP and ME concentrations. Therefore, it may be concluded that the production of Sesbania rostrata, a legume fodder, should be encouraged for feeding goats.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 1985

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of maturity and intake on digestibility of grass hay harvested at different dates. Hay was prepared from first-growth forage which cutting dates were: 4 June (vegetative, called early-cut) 30 June (heading, called late-cut). The grass hay fed to wethers at restricted and ad libitum levels of intake. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. As delay in cutting date, contents of crude protein and crude fat decreased, while fibre and lignin increased. 2. On ad libitum feeding of early-cut and late-cut hay, the DM intake were $82g/W_{kg}^{0.75}\;and\;68g/W_{kg}^{0.75}$ respectively. 3. There was no significant difference in dry matter digestibility of early-cut hay between restricted and ad libitum feeding, but dry matter digestibility was decreased markedly in ad libitum feeding when leaves fecal condition out of account. Digestibility of crude protein, organic matter and fibre contained in early-cut hay were tended to decrease slightly in ad libitum when compared with restricted feeding, but were not significantly. 4. Digestibilities decreased significantly with increase of intake in late-cut except for crude protein (P<0.05 or P<0.01). 5. In the comparison of digestibility for all composition, early-cut hay was higher (P<0.01) than late-cut hay.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1629-1629
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• 2001

The knowledge of the nutrition in animal production is difficult to assess due of difficulty to determine the amount and quality of feeds intake, mainly if forages are the most important compound in the diet. It must be able to know responses to the metabolic process in lactating dairy cows earring out feeds evaluation trials. These metabolism studies with cows, requires measurements of: I) The amount of all feeds consumed. II) Excretion of faeces. III) Excretion of urine. Taking as a basis these trials, forage and total intake, dietary digestibility and balances of nitrogen and energy can be calculated. However, these feeds evaluation experiments with animals are very time consuming and expensives. The faeces excreted by animals containt undigested residues of the diet consumed. For this reason, their analysis can be an successful tool to determine the amount and quality of feed intake and other important biological parameters. The aim of this work was to know if faeces analysis by NIR could be used to determine with enough accuracy some attributes of different lactating dairy cows diets, using a global equation, developed on an heterogeneus population. For this purpose a total of 79 faecal samples from eight grass, three grass silages and two maize silages metabolic trials, on six cows each one, were used to constitute the initial population. The calibration equations were developed to predict forage and total intake, organic matter digestibility, digestibility coefficient of crude energy and digestibility energy. The combination of several trials with different diets and animal conditions gave promising results.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.1453-1457
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• 2002

The experiment was conducted to find out the effect of 4 feeding systems on growth, feed intake, eating behavior, lactation performance, gestation period, post-partum heat period, conception rate and parasitic infestation of Black Bengal goat. Twenty four does of approximately 1 year of age were randomly selected for 4 treatment (feeding systems) groups having 6 replications in each. Treatments were stall feeding ($T_1$), tethering ($T_2$), restricted grazing ($T_3$) and grazing ($T_4$). $T_1$ group was housed continuously and adequate amounts of natural grass were supplied for ad libitum feeding. $T_2$ group was tethered for grazing natural grass from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. being moved at one hour intervals. Goats of $T_3$ group were allowed grazing from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. $T_4$ group was grazed from 8 a. m. to 4 p.m. Concentrate supplement was given at the rate of 150 g per day per goat for all of the treatment groups. Duration of experiment was 219 days. Daily live weight gain was significantly (p<0.05) higher in case of stall fed goats than that of others. DM intake also significantly (p<0.05) differed among the treatment groups and was 3.40 3.95, 3.76 and 4.05 per cent of their live weight for stall feeding, tethering, restricted grazing and grazing groups, respectively. Rate of rumination was significantly (p<0.05) higher in case of tethering group of goats than that of others. Birth weight of kids, milk yield, lactation period and post-partum heat period were significantly higher in case of stall fed goats than others. Tethering group showed significantly (p<0.05) higher litter size than others. Infestation rate of Fasciola was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the grazing group. In conclusion, it may be stated that among these feeding groups overall performance of stall fed goats was more satisfactory, and that the tethering group showed better performance than the others.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.386-389
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• 2006

Silage is a major component of cattle rations, so the improvement of silage quality by the inoculation of lactic acid bacteria is of great interest. In this study, commercially distributed Lactobacillus plantram and Lactobacillus rhamnousas NGRI 0110 were used for ensilaging of guinea grass. The four treatments used were a control silage, a silage with cellulase addition, a silage with cellulose+L. plantram addition, and a silage with cellulose + NGRI 0110 addition. Silage quality, voluntary intake, nutrient digestibility, and the characteristics of ruminal fluid of wethers were investigated. Silage to which lactic acid bacteria were added showed low pH and acetic acid concentration and the highest lactic acid content. Dry matter and organic matter digestibility were significantly (p<0.05) increased by cellulase addition and significantly (p<0.05) higher values were observed in L. plantram- and NGRI 0110-added silage. Voluntary intake of NGRI 0110-added silage was the highest and that of control silage was the lowest. We concluded that the observed ability of NGRI 0110 to tolerate low pH and to continue lactic acid fermentation in high lactic acid concentration had also occurred in actual ensilaging. The results indicate that the addition of lactic acid bacteria might improve silage quality and increase digestibility and voluntary intake. The potential for improvement by NGRI 0110 was higher than that to be gained by the use of commercially available lactic acid bacteria.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 2019

Objective: The aim of the present study was to identify the impact of early weaning of lambs at approximately seven weeks of age onto a herb-clover mix on the liveweight gain of lambs and their dams. Methods: In 2015, twin-born lambs that weighed a minimum of 16 kg (n = 134) were randomly allocated to one of three treatments: i) Early-weaned (58 days after the midpoint of lambing) onto an unrestricted allowance (>1,200 kg dry matter/ha) of herb-clover mix (HerbEW); ii) Lambs+dams unweaned onto an unrestricted allowance of herb-clover mix until conventional weaning (95 days after the midpoint of lambing) (HerbCW); iii) Lambs+dams unweaned onto an unrestricted allowance of grass-clover pasture until conventional weaning (GrassCW). In 2016, twin-born lambs that weighed a minimum of 16 kg (n = 170) were randomly allocated to one of four treatments: i), ii), iii) (similar to 2015) and iv) Lambs+dams unweaned onto a restricted allowance (<1,200 kg dry matter/ha) of grass-clover pasture until conventional weaning (93 days after the midpoint of lambing) (Restricted-GrassCW). Results: In 2015, liveweight gain from L58 to L95 of HerbCW and GrassCW lambs did not differ (p>0.05), but were greater than HerbEW lambs. In 2016, HerbCW lambs had greater (p<0.05) liveweight gains from L51 to L93 than GrassCW followed by HerbEW and Restricted-GrassCW lambs. In 2015, liveweight gain from L58 to L95 of HerbEW ewes were greater than both GrassCW and HerbCW ewes while in 2016, liveweight gain of from L51 to L93 GrassCW and HerbCW ewes did not differ (p>0.05) but were greater (p<0.05) than those of HerbEW and Restricted-GrassCW ewes. Conclusion: These results indicate that when grass-clover pasture supply can be maintained at unrestricted intake level, there may be no benefit of weaning lambs early. However, at restricted pasture conditions lambs can achieve greater liveweight gains when weaned early onto a herb-clover mix.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.18-33
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• 2022

Beef contains functional fatty acids such as conjugated linoleic acid and longchain fatty acids. This review summarizes results from studies comparing the fatty acid composition of beef from cattle fed either grass or grain-based feed. Since functional lipid components are contributed through dietary consumption of beef, the fatty acid composition is reported on mg/100 g of meat basis rather than on a percentage of total fat basis. Beef from grass-fed contains lesser total fat than that from grain-fed in all breeds of cattle. Reduced total fat content also influences the fatty acid composition of beef. A 100 g beef meat from grass-fed cattle contained 2,773 mg less total saturated fatty acids (SFA) than that from the same amount of grain-fed. Grass-fed also showed a more favorable SFA lipid profile containing less cholesterol-raising fatty acids (C12:0 to C16:0) but contained a lesser amount of cholesterol-lowering C18:0 than grain-fed beef. In terms of essential fatty acids, grass-fed beef showed greater levels of trans-vaccenic acid and long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; EPA, DPA, DHA) than grain-fed beef. Grass-fed beef also contains an increased level of total n-3 PUFA which reduced the n-6 to n-3 ratio thus can offer more health benefits than grain-fed. The findings signify that grass-fed beef could exert protective effects against a number of diseases ranging from cancer to cardiovascular disease (CVD) as evidenced by the increased functional omega-3 PUFA and decreased undesirable SFA. Although grain-fed beef showed lesser EPA, DPA, and DHA, consumers should be aware that greater portions of grain-fed beef could also achieve a similar dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Noteworthy, grain-fed beef contained higher total monounsaturated fatty acid that have beneficial roles in the amelioration of CVD risks than grass-fed beef. In Hanwoo beef, grain-fed showed higher EPA and DHA than grass-fed beef.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1127-1133
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• 2006

This study examined the effect of cane molasses and fermentation time on chemical composition and characteristics of oat grass silage (OGS) and its in situ digestion kinetics, intake, digestibility, milk yield and composition in buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Oat grass (OG) harvested at 50-days of age was ensiled in laboratory silos with cane molasses at the rate of 0, 2, 4 and 6% of OG dry matter (DM) for 30, 35 and 40 days. Silage pH was decreased while lactic acid content increased with increasing level of cane molasses and fermentation time. Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and true protein (TP) content of OGS were (p<0.05) significantly higher with higher cane molasses levels. However, they were not affected by the fermentation time. Similar trends were observed for neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), cellulose, acid detergent lignin and ash content of OGS. The OG ensiled for 30-days with 2% molasses was screened from laboratory study and used to determine comparative in situ DM and NDF digestion kinetics of OG and its silage. In situ DM and NDF digestibilities of OG were significantly (p<0.05) higher than OGS. Ruminal DM and NDF lag time, rate and extent of digestion of OG and its silage were similar. Two experimental diets of OG and OGS were formulated using 75:25 forage to concentrate ratio on a DM basis. Dry matter and CP intakes were similar in lactating buffaloes fed either OG- or OGS-based diets. However, NDF intake was higher in buffaloes fed the OG-compared with OGS-based diet. Apparent DM, CP and NDF digestibilities were similar in lactating buffaloes fed either OG- or OGS-based diets. Milk yield (4% FCM) was similar in buffaloes fed either OG-(10.3 kg/d) or OGS-(9.95 kg/d) based diets. Milk fat, total solids and true protein content were higher with OG compared with the OGS diet. Solids not fat and CP content were similar in milk of buffalo fed either OG or OGS. The results of this study indicate that OG ensiled with 2% molasses could safely replace 75% DM of green oat fodder in the diets of lactating buffaloes without negatively affecting intake, digestibility, milk yield and composition.