• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.921-929
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• 2020

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the beneficial effects of dietary supplementation with oil palm frond (leaf) (OPF) with and without oil palm meal (OPM) on nutrient intake and digestibility, ruminal fermentation and growth performance in goats. Methods: Six female crossbred goats were fed for 28 days of 3 diet treatments; 100% para-grass (T1); 50% para-grass + 50% OPF (T2), and 30% para-grass + 50% OPF + 20% OPM (T3). Body weight, rectal temperature, respiratory rate, and urine volume, food intake, dry matter intake and water intake were measured daily. Nutrient digestibility was determined from five consecutive days of last week in each diet. Ruminal fluid, urine and blood were collected at the end for determination of rumen protozoa and volatile fatty acid contents, urinary allantoin excretion, blood cell count and chemistry profiles. Results: Goats fed T2 and T3 showed higher dry matter and nutrients intakes while protein digestibility was suppressed compared with those for T1. Crude fat digestibility declined in T2 but maintained after adding the OPM (T3). High fat intake by giving OPF and OPM corresponded to a higher ruminal acetate/propionate ratio (C2/C3) and serum cholesterol level. An increased urinary allantoin/creatinine ratio was found in T2 and T3 compared with T1, implying an increased number of ruminal microbes. Conclusion: Increased dry matter intake in T2 and T3 suggested that oil palm by-products are partly useful as a replacement for para-grass in goats. Replacement with the by-products increased plasma cholesterol level, which suggested that these products are a useful energy source. Changes in rumen parameters suggested an increased microbial number and activity suitable for acetate production. However, the limited digestibility of protein implies that addition of high protein feeds may be recommended to increase body weight gain of goats.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.9.1-9.5
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• 2016

Background: Literature is lacking on the effects of feeding by-product feed (BF)-based silage on rumen fermentation parameters, nutrient digestion and nitrogen (N) retention in sheep. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of replacing rye straw with BF-based silage as a roughage source on ruminal parameters, total-tract apparent nutrient digestibility, and N balance in sheep. Methods: The by-product feed silage was composed of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) (45 %), recycled poultry bedding (RPB) (21 %), rye straw (11 %), rice bran (10.8 %), corn taffy residue (10 %), protected fat (1.0 %), bentonite (0.6 %), and mixed microbial additive (0.6 %). Six sheep were assigned randomly to either the control (concentrate mix + rye straw) or a treatment diet (concentrate mix + BF-based silage). Results: Compared with the control diet, feeding a BF-based silage diet resulted in similar ruminal characteristics (pH, acetate, propionate, and butyrate concentrations, and acetate: propionate ratio), higher (p < 0.05) ruminal NH3-N, higher (p < 0.05) ether extract digestibility, similar crude protein digestibility, lower (p < 0.05) dry matter, fiber, and crude ash digestibilities, and higher (p < 0.05) N retention (g/d) Conclusion: The BF-based silage showed similar energy value, higher protein metabolism and utilization, and lower fiber digestion in sheep compared to the control diet containing rye straw.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.189-193
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• 1996

A study was conducted to estimate nutritive value of forage sources used in deer diets. Bags containing feedstuffs were incubated four times for periods up to 72 hours in two chemostats filled with ruminal fluid from deer or cattle. Parameters estimated were water-soluble and $65{\mu}m$ filterable plus insoluble digestible fractions(No. = 4) and extent of disappearance(No. = 8) of feed neutral detergent fiber(NDF). Among tested feeds, the ranking of values of these parameters were soybean hulls > alfalfa pellets > corn cobs or rice straw > cottonseed hulls or rice hulls > sawdust, indicating that soybean hulls and alfalfa pellets were more fermentable than other agricultural residues. It is possible to utilize variability among tested feeds of fraction, disappearance rate and (or) extent of DM and NDF when these feeds are used as roughage sources in deer diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1623-1631
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of protein and energy on goats fed oil palm fronds (OPF) as roughages. Twenty-four male Saanen goats aged between 7 and 8 months and weighing $23.4{\pm}1.6kg$ were used in a $2{\times}3$ factorial design. Factors were three levels of urea (3%, 4% or 5%) and two levels of energy (low energy (LE) or high energy (HE)). On average, all parameters measured, including dry matter intake (DMI), nutrient digestibility, digestible nutrient intakes, ruminal ammonia-N ($NH_3$-N), ruminal total volatile fatty acid (total VFA) and individual VFA concentrations (mM/L), microbial N supply, P/E ratio and N retention were higher for HE compared to LE diets. Significant (p<0.05) interactions were found between levels of urea and energy for nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) and energy (DE) digestibilities, ruminal $NH_3$-N and total VFA concentrations. HE diets had higher N absorption and retention than LE diets. Interactions between urea and energy for plasma urea nitrogen (PUN), heat production (HP), and urine and faeces N excretion were significantly lower (p<0.05) for the HE diets than those recorded for the LE diets. The results indicated that supplementation of energy enhanced utilization of urea and resulted in higher animal performance as a consequence of improved ruminal fermentation, microbial yield and N balance. However, the optimal level of urea supplementation remained at 3% in the HE diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1266-1273
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• 2015

The effect of starch infusion on production, metabolic parameters and relative mRNA abundance was investigated in low yield lactating cows from 86 days in milk. Six Holstein cows fitted with permanent ruminal cannulas were arranged into one of two complete $3{\times}3$ Latin squares and infused with a starch solution containing 800 grams starch for 16 days. The three treatments were: i) ruminal and abomasal infusion with water (Control); ii) ruminal infusion with cornstarch solution and abomasal infusion with water (Rumen); iii) ruminal infusion with water and abomasal infusion with cornstarch solution (Abomasum). There were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the three treatments with low yield lactating cows in feed and energy intake, milk yield and composition, plasma metabolism, or even on gene expression. However, cows receiving starch through rumen performed better than directly through the abomasum during the glucose tolerance test procedure with a higher area under the curve (AUC; p = 0.08) and shorter half-time ($t^{1/2}$; p = 0.11) of plasma insulin, therefore, it increased glucose disposal, which stated a lipid anabolism other than mobilization after energy supplementation. In conclusion, extra starch infusion at concentration of 800 g/d did not enhance energy supplies to the mammary gland and improve the lactating performance in low yield lactating cows.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 1990

An experiment was conducted with three ruminally and intestinally cannulated non-lactating cows of Finnish Ayrshire breed, to assess the ruminal degradation characteristics of oat (Avena sativa), rye (Secale cereale) and rice (Oryza sativa) straw by the nylon bag technique, and the subsequent post-ruminal degradation of their rumen-undegraded residues by using the mobile bag technique, respectively. The straw samples were untreated or treated with aqueous $NH_3$ or with urea solution in cold or hot water. The untreated straw samples were milled or chopped, and the treated straw samples were chopped. The constant values a, b, and c were computed according to the exponential equation, where a = intercept of degradation curve at time 0, b = potentially degradable material, c = rate of degradation of band (a+b) = maximum potential degradability (asymptote). It was found that nitrogen contents of chemically treated straw were markedly increased by both $NH_3$ and urea treatments. Milling the samples attributed to a remarkable loss at 0 h incubation time as compared to chopping of the respective samples. However, chemical treatment markedly improved the b value and the subsequent (a+b) values for dry matter, organic matter, neutral-detergent fiber, and acid-detergent fiber of the samples. Furthermore, temperature of the water used in the urea solutions was considered essential, since urea in hot water rather than in cold water seemed to enhance the overall degradability. The disappearance of rumen-incubated straw residues from the mobile bags ranged from 4.5 to 9.6% for the parameters measured. On average, the OM disappearance from bags was clearly higher for the residues of urea treated straw compared to those of ammonia treated straw, but the disappearance of NDF tended, however, to be higher on the ammonia treatment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.1779-1786
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate soy sauce oil (a by-product of making whole soybean soy sauce) as a new dietary lipid source, a large amount of soy sauce oil was administered into the rumen of dairy cows. Methods: Four Holstein dairy cows fitted with rumen cannulae were used in a 56-day experiment. Ruminal administration of soy sauce oil (1 kg/d) was carried out for 42 days from day 8 to day 49 to monitor nutritional, physiological and production responses. Results: Dry matter intake and milk yield were not affected by soy sauce oil administration, whereas 4% fat-corrected milk yield and the percentage of milk fat decreased. Although ruminal concentration of total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and the proportion of individual VFA were partially affected by administration of soy sauce oil, values were within normal ranges, showing no apparent inhibition in rumen fermentation. Administration of soy sauce oil decreased the proportions of milk fatty acids with a carbon chain length of less than 18, and increased the proportions of stearic, oleic, vaccenic and conjugated linoleic acids. Conjugated linoleic acid content in milk became 5.9 to 8.8 times higher with soy sauce oil administration. Blood serum concentrations of non-esterified fatty acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, total cholesterol, free cholesterol, esterified cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipid increased with administration of soy sauce oil, suggesting a higher energy status of the experimental cows. Conclusion: The results suggest that soy sauce oil could be a useful supplement to potentially improve milk functionality without adverse effects on ruminal fermentation and animal health. More detailed analysis is necessary to optimize the supplementation level of this new lipid source in feeding trials.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.491-500
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• 2010

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of polyurethane coated urea on in vitro ruminal fermentation, ammonia release dynamics and lactating performance of Holstein dairy cows fed a steam-flaked corn-based diet. In Exp. 1, a dual-flow continuous culture was run to investigate the effect of polyurethane coated urea on nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation parameters and microbial efficiency. Three treatment diets with isonitrogenous contents (13.0% CP) were prepared: i) feedgrade urea (FGU) diet; ii) polyurethane coated urea (PCU) diet; and iii) isolated soy protein (ISP) diet. Each of the diets consisted of 40% steam-flaked corn meal, 58.5% forages and 1.5% different sources of nitrogen. PCU and FGU diets had significantly lower digestibility of NDF and ADF (p<0.01) than the ISP diet. Nitrogen source had no significant effect (p = 0.62) on CP digestibility. The microbial efficiency (expressed as grams of microbial N/kg organic matter truly digested (OMTD)) in vitro of the PCU diet (13.0 g N/kg OMTD) was significantly higher than the FGU diet (11.3 g N/kg OMTD), but comparable with the ISP diet (14.7 g N/kg OMTD). Exp. 2, an in vitro ruminal fermentation experiment, was conducted to determine the ammonia release dynamics during an 8 h ruminal fermentation. Three treatment diets were based on steam-flaked corn diets commonly fed to lactating cows in China, in which FGU, PCU or soybean meal (SBM) was added to provide 10% of total dietary N. In vitro $NH_3-N$ concentrations were lower (p<0.05) for the PCU diet than the FGU diet, but similar to that for the SBM diet at all time points. In Exp. 3, a lactation trial was performed using 24 lactating Holstein cows to compare the lactating performance and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations when cows were fed PCU, FGU and SBM diets. Cows consuming the PCU diet had approximately 12.8% more (p = 0.02) dietary dry matter intake than those consuming the FGU diet. Cows fed the PCU diet had higher milk protein content (3.16% vs. 2.94%) and lower milk urea nitrogen (MUN) concentration (13.0 mg/dl vs. 14.4 mg/dl) than those fed the FGU diet. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentration was significantly lower for cows fed the PCU (16.7 mg/dl) and SBM (16.4 mg/dl) diets than the FGU (18.7 mg/dl) diet. Cows fed the PCU diet had less surplus ruminal N than those fed the FGU diet and produced a comparable lactation performance to the SBM diet, suggesting that polyurethane coated urea can partially substitute soybean meal in the dairy cow diet without impairing lactation performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.369-378
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• 2018

Objective: The impact of forage feeding strategy on growth performance, ruminal fermentation and nutrient digestibility in post-weaning calves was investigated. Methods: Forty-five female Holstein calves (body weight [BW] = $79.79{\pm}0.38kg$) were enrolled in the 35-d study at one week after weaning and randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments. All diets were fed as total mixed ration containing 60% (dry matter [DM] basis) of basal starter feed and 40% (DM basis) of forage, but varied in composition of forage source including i) alfalfa (40% DM, AH); ii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+oat hay (13.3% DM; OH); iii) alfalfa hay (26.7% DM)+corn silage (13.3% DM; WS). Results: Dry matter intake was not different among treatment groups (p>0.05). However, BW (p<0.05) and average daily gain (p<0.05) of calves fed AH and OH were greater than WS-fed calves, whereas heart girth was greater in OH-fed calves than those fed AH and WS (p<0.05). Ruminal fermentation parameters including proportion of butyric acid, acetated-to-propionate ratio, concentration of total volatile fatty acid, protozoal protein, bacterial protein, and microbial protein in rumen were the highest in OH (p<0.05) and the lowest in WS. Compared with the AH and WS, feeding oat hay to postweaning calves increased crude protein digestibility (p<0.05), and decreased duration of diarrhea (p<0.05) and fecal index (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results suggested that partially replacing alfalfa hay with oat hay improved ruminal fermentation, nitrogen utilization, and reduced incidence of diarrhea in post-weaning dairy calves.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1416-1424
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• 2017

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effects of alfalfa flavonoids on the production performance, immunity, and ruminal fermentation of dairy cows. Methods: The experiments employed four primiparous Holstein cows fitted with ruminal cannulas, and used a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Cattle were fed total mixed ration supplemented with 0 (control group, Con), 20, 60, or 100 mg of alfalfa flavonoids extract (AFE) per kg of dairy cow body weight (BW). Results: The feed intake of the group receiving 60 mg/kg BW of AFE were significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of the group receiving 100 mg/kg BW. Milk yields and the fat, protein and lactose of milk were unaffected by AFE, while the total solids content of milk reduced (p = 0.05) linearly as AFE supplementation was increased. The somatic cell count of milk in group receiving 60 mg/kg BW of AFE was significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of the control group. Apparent total-tract digestibility of neutral detergent fiber and crude protein showed a tendency to increase (0.05<$p{\leq}0.10$) with ingestion of AFE. Methane dicarboxylic aldehyde concentration decreased (p = 0.03) linearly, whereas superoxide dismutase activity showed a tendency to increase (p = 0.10) quadratically, with increasing levels of AFE supplementation. The lymphocyte count and the proportion of lymphocytes decreased (p = 0.03) linearly, whereas the proportion of neutrophil granulocytes increased (p = 0.01) linearly with increasing levels of dietary AFE supplementation. The valeric acid/total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) ratio was increased (p = 0.01) linearly with increasing of the level of AFE supplementation, the other ruminal fermentation parameters were not affected by AFE supplementation. Relative levels of the rumen microbe Ruminococcus flavefaciens tended to decrease (p = 0.09) quadratically, whereas those of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens showed a tendency to increase (p = 0.07) quadratically in response to AFE supplementation. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that AFE supplementation can alter composition of milk, and may also have an increase tendency of nutrient digestion by regulating populations of microbes in the rumen, improve antioxidant properties by increasing antioxidant enzyme activities, and affect immunity by altering the proportions of lymphocyte and neutrophil granulocytes in dairy cows. The addition of 60 mg/kg BW of AFE to the diet of dairy cows was shown to be beneficial in this study.