• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제16권5호
• /
• pp.655-659
• /
• 2003

Forty eight lambs (24 each of Malpura and Mutton synthetic breeds) were weaned at 90 days of age and divided into two groups. One group of 12 lambs from each of the two breeds was maintained on low energy (52% TDN) and the other group of 12 on high energy (58% TDN) feedlot ration until 6 of the lambs attained 20 kg and the other 6 attained 25 kg live weight in each of the two groups. Daily feed intake and weekly body weights were recorded. Conventional metabolism trials were conducted on the two breeds and the two rations. The growth rate was found to be higher for lambs on high energy ration (p<0.01). The growth rate was also higher for higher target weight groups (p<0.01). The breed did not significantly affect the live weight gains. Mutton synthetic lambs required less number of days to reach 20 kg live weights but took more time to reach 25 kg target weight as compared to Malpura lambs (p<0.01). The lambs of both the breeds reached 25 kg live weight earlier on high energy than those on low energy ration (p<0.01). The dry matter intake, irrespective of breed, was significantly higher (4.57% or 93.4 g per kgW$^{0.75}$) on low energy than that on high energy ration (4.20% or 87.2 g per kg W$^{0.75}$). The digestibility coefficients of all the nutrients excepting crude fibre were significantly higher on high energy diet irrespective of the breed. Lambs on low energy ration, however, digested the crude fibre more than those on the high energy ration (p<0.05). Although there were no significant differences in the intakes of nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, the balance of nitrogen was higher on high energy ration. The DCP and TDN values were 9.70 and 52.76% for low energy and 9.89 and 57.68 % for high energy ration, respectively. The dressing percentages on live weight basis were 50.2 on low and 51.6 on high energy ration, 50.5 at 20kg and 51.3 at 25 kg slaughter weight and 51.0 in Malpura and 50.8 in Mutton synthetic lambs, respectively. The percent of bones in the carcass was higher on low energy ration in Mutton synthetic lambs at 20 kg slaughter weight than others. It was concluded that the performance of the lambs in respect of mutton production was significantly better on high energy ration fed upto 25 kg slaughter weight with no or little breed differences.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제21권12호
• /
• pp.1736-1744
• /
• 2008

Two experiments were conducted in central Vietnam to test the hypothesis that supplementation with a concentrate, comprising rice bran (45% fresh basis), maize (49%), fish meal (3%), urea (2%) and salt (1%), up to 2% of live weight (LW)/d (dry matter (DM) basis) would linearly increase digestible organic matter intake and LW gain of yellow cattle. In both experiments, there were five treatments, namely a basal diet of fresh grass fed at 1.25% of LW (experiment 1, elephant grass, Pennisetum purpureum; experiment 2, native grass) and rice straw (Oryza sativa) fed ad libitum or this diet supplemented with concentrate at about 0.3, 0.7, 1.3 or 2.0% LW. There were 4 male growing cattle per treatment in experiment 1 and 3 in experiment 2. Diets were fed for 44 (experiment 1) or 49 (experiment 2) days, with feed intake recorded daily, LW measured about weekly and digestibility measurements made over 7 days commencing on day 24 (experiment 1) or day 10 (experiment 2). The elephant grass and native grass had neutral detergent fibre (NDF) concentrations of 82 and 73% DM, and nitrogen concentrations of 1.3 and 1.8% DM, respectively. The rice straw used had a NDF concentration of 79-84% DM and nitrogen concentration of 0.8% DM. The concentrate had NDF and nitrogen concentrations of 33 and 2.8% DM. In both experiments, DM intake increased (p<0.001) linearly as the amount of concentrate consumed increased. Rice straw intake declined (p<0.001) (experiment 1: 1.24 to 0.48 kg DM/d; experiment 2: 0.95 to 0.50 kg DM/d) as concentrate intake increased. Grass intake was not significantly affected by concentrate intake in either experiment. The lowest amount of concentrate supplement increased forage intake, after which substitution rate increased as the amount of concentrate consumed increased. However, substitution rates at the highest amount of concentrate consumed were modest at 0.3 to 0.5 kg DM reduction in forage intake/kg DM supplement consumed. In both experiments, digestible organic matter intake increased linearly (p<0.001) (experiment 1: 1.16 to 2.38 kg/d; experiment 2: 1.30 to 2.49 kg/d) as the amount of supplement consumed increased, as did LW gain (experiment 1: 0.15 to 0.81 kg/d; experiment 2: 0.15 to 0.77 kg/d). This was associated with significant (p<0.01) linear increases in organic matter intake and apparent organic matter digestibility. Neutral detergent fibre digestibility declined as concentrate intake increased, but the effect was not significant (p = 0.051) in experiment 2. These results are discussed in relation to existing literature and potential to improve the profitability of cattle fattening in central Vietnam.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제25권2호
• /
• pp.240-247
• /
• 2012

Dietary supplementation with conventional linted cottonseed hulls (LCSH) is a common practice in livestock production all over the world. However, supplementation with mechanically delinted cottonseed hulls (DCSH) and cottonseed linter residue (CLR) is uncommon. Cottonseed by-products, including LCSH, DCSH and CLR, were assessed by chemical analysis, an in situ nylon bag technique, an in vitro cumulative gas production technique and in vitro enzyme procedure. The crude protein (CP) content of CLR (302 g/kg dry matter (DM)) was approximately 3 times that of LCSH and 5 times that of DCSH. The crude fat content was approximately 3 times higher in CLR (269 g/kg DM) than in LCSH and 4 times higher than in DCSH. Neutral detergent fibre (311 g/kg DM) and acid detergent fibre (243 g/kg DM) contents of CLR were less than half those of DCSH or LCSH. Metabolisable energy, estimated by in vitro gas production and chemical analyses, ranked as follows: CLR (12.69 kJ/kg DM)>LCSH (7.32 kJ/kg DM)>DCSH (5.82 kJ/kg DM). The in situ degradation trial showed that the highest values of effective degradability of DM and CP were obtained for CLR (p<0.05). The in vitro disappearance of ruminal DM ranked as follows: CLR>LCSH>DCSH (p<0.05). The lowest digestibility was observed for DCSH with a two-step in vitro digestion procedure (p<0.05). The potential gas production in the batch cultures did not differ for any of the three cottonseed by-product feeds. The highest concentration of total volatile fatty acids was observed in CLR after a 72 h incubation (p<0.05). The molar portions of methane were similar between all three treatments, with an average gas production of 22% (molar). The CLR contained a higher level of CP than did LCSH and DCSH, and CLR fermentation produced more propionate. The DCSH and LCSH had more NDF and ADF, which fermented into greater amounts of acetate.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제15권12호
• /
• pp.1719-1724
• /
• 2002

An investigation was made to evaluate the native range of western India in terms of nutrient supply during different physiological stages in goats. One hundred female and 5 male Kutchi adult goats were grazed on a 35 ha plot of native range. They were maintained on sole grazing. Four experiments, one in a defined physiological stage was carried out. Stage I, when maximum number of females were bred; stage II, when bucks were used for breeding purpose; stage III, 3-months old (weaner) kids were allowed to graze on ranges and stage IV, when the goats were in early stage of lactation. During oestrous period, diet contained 15.2% crude protein (CP), 54.0% neutral detergent fibre (NDF), 31.5% acid detergent fibre (ADF) and 12.6% acid detergent lignin (ADL). Digestibility coefficient of dry matter (DM), CP, NDF and ADF was 0.586,0.531, 0.431 and 0.239, respectively. DM, digestible crude protein (DCP) and metabolizable energy (ME) intakes were $82.7,\;6.71g\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$ and $0.99MJ\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$. Diet of buck was constituted by $230g\;kg^{-1}$ DM of grasses and forb and $770g\;kg^{-1}$ DM of tree foliage. CP, NDF, ADF and ADL contents of the diet were 13.6, 57.8, 43.5 and 20.0%, respectively. DM, DCP and ME intakes were $57.9,\;4.13g\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$ and $0.82MJ\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$. Digestibility coefficient of CP, NDF and ADF were 0.496, 0.432 and 0.346, respectively. Diet of kids was constituted by Prosopis cineraria ($900g\;kg^{-1}DM$) and Zizyphus nummularia ($100g\;kg^{-1}DM$) leaves. Digestibility of CP, NDF and ADF were 0.456, 0.415 and 0.201, respectively. DM, DCP and ME intakes were $85.8,\;6.44g\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$ and $1.22MJ\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$. Lactation phase of goat fell between October-December and tree foliage formed the major portion of the diet. Diet of lactating goat contained only 6.8% CP and 16.5% ADL. Digestibility of DM, CP, NDF and ADF was 0.567, 0.221, 0.307 and 0.233, respectively. DM, DCP and ME intakes were $108.2,\;1.62g\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$ and $1.50MJ\;kg^{-1}\;W^{0.75}$, respectively. Present study establishes that goats on semiarid range with sufficient number of fodder trees were able to meet the nutrient requirement of ewes during oestrous and bucks during breeding season. However, during lactation and active growth phase, only DM requirement is met. Thus, it is recommended to supplement concentrate mixture to goats grazing on range during lactation and growth phase.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제26권5호
• /
• pp.646-653
• /
• 2013

Four crossbred Sindhi heifers with an average body weight (BW) of 135 kg and a mean age of 17 months were used to investigate the effect of feeding different combinations of rice straw and ensiled water hyacinth (EWH) supplemented with a source of protein in the form of cottonseed cake (CSC) on intake and digestibility. Four treatments consisting of graded levels of EWH were arranged in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square. The levels of EWH were set at: 0 (EWH0), 15 (EWH15), 30 (EWH30), and 45% (EWH45) of an expected total dietary dry matter (DM) intake of 30 g total DM per kg BW per day. Rice straw was offered ad libitum, while CSC was given at a fixed level of 5 g DM/kg body weight (BW). Voluntary intake and digestibility were measured consecutively in the 4 experimental periods which each lasted 28 days. The crude protein (CP) content of EWH, rice straw and CSC were 174, 53 and 370 g/kg DM, respectively. Rice straw had the highest neutral detergent fibre (NDFom) content (666 g/kg DM), followed by EWH (503 g/kg DM) and the lowest content was 418 g/kg DM in the CSC. The actual EWH contents in the consumed diets were 0, 17, 32 and 52% for EWH0, EWH15, EWH30 and EWH45, respectively. Rice straw intake decreased with level of EWH offered from 3049 for EWH0 to 1014 g/day for EWH45. Crude protein intake was 16, 25 and 33% higher (p<0.001) in EWH15, EWH30 and EWH45 treatments, respectively, as compared to EWH0. Digestibility of organic matter (OM), CP, NDFom and acid detergent fibre (ADFom) increased with increasing level of EWH offered. The highest OM digestibility (72.2%) was found for treatment EWH45 and the lowest (47.4%) for treatment EWH0. In spite of similar dietary CP contents, CP digestibility increased by 21 (EWH15), 31 (EWH30) and 40% (EWH45) with increasing level of EWH in comparison with treatment EWH0. It is concluded that increasing level of EWH in cattle diets considerably improved CP intake and digestibility of nutrients.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제26권4호
• /
• pp.564-572
• /
• 2013

Two trials were conducted to investigate the effect of decreasing the crude protein (CP) content of diets for finishing pigs containing two levels of available lysine on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen (N) balance and production performance. Ten finishing diets containing five levels of CP (on average 144, 155, 168, 182 and 193 g/kg fresh basis) and two levels of available lysine (6.9 and 8.2 g/kg fresh basis) were formulated. The diets were offered to pigs on a performance trial (n = 800 Large White (LW)${\times}$Landrace (LR) pigs) from 10 wk of age until finish at 21 wks+5 d of age. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. In addition, a digestibility/N balance trial was conducted using pigs (n = 80 $LW{\times}LR$) housed in metabolism crates. Digestibility of dry matter (DM), CP, oil, fibre and energy was determined. N balance values were determined through analysis of N content of urine and faeces ('as determined'). N balance values were also calculated using ADG values and assuming that 16% of growth is protein deposition ("as calculated"). Pig performance was poor between 10 and 13 wk of age which indicated that the dietary treatments were nutritionally inadequate for pigs less than 40 kg. There was a significant (p<0.01) quadratic effect of increasing CP level on feed intake, ADG and FCR from 10 to 13 wk which indicated that the lower CP levels did not supply adequate levels of essential or non-essential amino acids. There was no effect of increasing available lysine level throughout the early period, which in conjunction with the response in older pigs, suggested that both 8.2 and 6.9 g/kg available lysine were insufficient to drive optimum growth. There was a positive response (p<0.05) to increasing available lysine level from 13 wk to finish which indicated that 6.9 g/kg available lysine was not adequate for finishing pigs. Energy digestibility decreased with decreasing CP level of diets containing 6.9 g/kg available lysine which may be attributed to the higher fibre content of the lower CP diets. Nitrogen excretion (g/d) was lowered when dietary CP was reduced regardless of whether the values were determined through balance or calculated using ADG. Calculated N excretion decreased linearly (p<0.001) and quadratically (p<0.001) with decreasing dietary CP content. When the N balance figures calculated in this study were compared with those quoted in the Northern Ireland and English Nitrates Directive Action Programmes, N excretion was less per pig (wean to finish) offered a 169 g/kg CP, 8.2 g/kg available lysine diet (2.39 kg vs 3.41 kg (Northern Ireland) and 2.93 kg (England)).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제26권10호
• /
• pp.1446-1458
• /
• 2013

The study assessed the effect of dietary supplementation of leaf meal mixture (LMM) containing condensed tannins (CT) on feed intake, nutrient utilization and performance of sheep infected with Haemonchus contortus. Eighteen adult sheep of similar age and body weight ($25.03{\pm}1.52$) were included in this study and out of these, 12 sheep were infected with single dose of infective third stage larvae of H. contortus at 2,000 larvae per sheep. The experimental sheep were allocated in three different groups' i.e. negative control (NC; no infection), control (C; H. contortus infected) and treatment (T; H. contortus infected+CT at 1.5% of the DM through LMM) and the experiment was conducted for a period of 90 d. The intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and digestibility of DM, OM, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) were comparable among three animal groups. However, digestibility of crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in NC group as compared to both C and T groups. Nitrogen (N) retention (g/d or % of N intake) was significantly (p = 0.038) lower in C group as compared to T and NC groups. Daily intake (g/kg $W^{0.75}$) of digestible crude protein (DCP), digestible organic matter (DOM) and total digestible nutrient (TDN) did not differ significantly (p<0.05) in the three groups. Haemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) were significantly (p<0.001) higher in treatment group as compared to control. The level of Hb and PCV reduced (p<0.001) after 30 days of experimental feeding. CT significantly (p<0.001) reduced serum urea in T group as compared to NC and C groups. Serum proteins differed significantly (p<0.01) among the three groups. The activity of serum enzymes AST, ALT, ALP and LDH were also statistically non significant (p<0.05) among treatments. The weight of abomasal lymph nodes (ALN) in T group was higher (p<0.05) than in C group. Treatment group had lower (p<0.05) total worms and fecal egg count compared to control group. It may be concluded that dietary supplementation of CT through LMM significantly improved the N retention, and inhibited the different developmental stages of Haemonchus contortus in experimental sheep.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제29권12호
• /
• pp.1725-1733
• /
• 2016

Recent findings have shown that microbial nitrogen flow and digestible energy of diets are increased when urea is combined with a slow-release urea (SRU) in diets with a starch to acid detergent fibre ratio (S:F) 4:1. This affect is attributable to enhanced synchrony between ruminal N availability for microbial growth and carbohydrate degradation. To verify the magnitude of this effects on lamb performance, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of combining urea and a SRU in diets containing S:F ratios of 3:1, 4:1, or 5:1 on performance, dietary energetics and carcass characteristics of finishing lambs. For that, 40 Pelibuey${\times}$Katahdin lambs ($36.65{\pm}3kg$) were assigned to one of five weight groupings in 20 pens (5 repetition/treatments). The S:F ratio in the diet was manipulated by partially replacing the corn grain and dried distiller's grain with solubles by forage (wheat straw) and soybean meal to reach S:F ratios of 3:1, 4:1 or 5:1. An additional treatment of 4:1 S:F ratio with 0.8% urea as the sole source of non-protein nitrogen was used as a reference for comparing the effect of urea combination vs. conventional urea at the same S:F ratio. There were no treatment effects on dry matter intake (DMI). Compared the urea combination vs urea at the same S:F ratio, urea combination increased (p<0.01) average daily gain (ADG, 18.3%), gain for feed (G:F, 9.5%), and apparent energy retention per unit DMI (8.2%). Irrespective of the S:F ratio, the urea combination improved the observed-to-expected dietary ratio and apparent retention per unit DMI was maximal (quadratic effect, $p{\leq}0.03$) at an S:F ratio of 4:1, while the conventional urea treatment did not modify the observed-to-expected net energy ratio nor the apparent retention per unit DMI at 4:1 S:F ratio. Urea combination group tended (3.8%, p = 0.08) to have heavier carcasses with no effects on the rest of carcass characteristics. As S:F ratio increased, ADG, G:F, dietary net energy, carcass weight, dressing percentage and longissimus thoracis (LM) area increased linearly ($p{\leq}0.02$). Combining urea and a slow-release urea product results in positive effects on growth performance and dietary energetics, but the best responses are apparently observed when there is a certain proportion (S:F ratio = 4:1) of starch to acid detergent fibre in the diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제32권9호
• /
• pp.1414-1422
• /
• 2019

Objective: Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of adaptation time and inclusion level of sugar beet pulp (SBP) on nutrient digestibility and to evaluate the ileal amino acid digestibility of SBP fed to pigs. Methods: In Exp. 1, thirty-six crossbred barrows ($85.0{\pm}2.1kg$) were allotted to 6 diets in a completely randomized design with six replicates per diet. Diets included a corn-soybean meal diet and 5 test diets containing 14.6%, 24.4%, 34.2%, 43.9%, or 53.7% SBP, respectively. The adaptation time consisted 7, 14, 21, or 28 d consecutively for each pig followed by 5 d for fecal collection. Feces were collected from d 8 to 13, d 15 to 20, d 22 to 27, and d 29 to 34, respectively. In Exp. 2, six pigs ($35.1{\pm}1.7kg$) with T-cannulas at the terminal ileum were fed to 3 diets in a replicated $3{\times}3$ Latin square design with 3 periods and 2 replicate pigs per diet. Each period consisted 5 d for diet adaptation followed by 2 d for digesta collection. Results: The digestible energy (DE) value and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy (GE), dry matter (DM), ash, and organic matter in diets linearly decreased (p<0.05) as the adaptation time increased or as the dietary SBP increased, while the ATTD of neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre in diets linearly increased (p<0.01) as the dietary SBP increased. The DE value and the ATTD of GE and crude protein (CP) in SBP linearly increased (p<0.05) as the adaptation time increased, while the ATTD of CP in SBP linearly decreased (p<0.01) as the inclusion level increased. The standardized ileal digestibility of Lys, Met, Thr, and Trp in SBP was 37.03%, 51.62%, 40.68%, and 46.22%, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the ATTD of energy and nutrients were decreased as inclusion rate of SBP increased.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• 제35권6호
• /
• pp.838-846
• /
• 2022

Objective: Native plants can be used as additives to replace antibiotics to improve ruminant feed utilization and animal health. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Gentiana straminea (GS) on nutrient digestibility, methane emissions, and energy metabolism of Simmental calves. Methods: Thirty-two (5-week-old) male Simmental clves, with initial body weight (BW) of 155±12 kg were fed the same basal diet of concentrates (26%), alfalfa hay (37%), and oat hay (37%) and were randomly separated into four treatment groups according to the amount of GS that was added to their basal diet. The four different groups received different amounts of GS as a supplement to their basal diet during whole experiment: (0 GS) 0 mg/kg BW, the control; (100 GS) 100 mg/kg BW; (200 GS) 200 mg/kg BW; and (300 GS) 300 mg/kg BW. Results: For calves in the 200 GS and 300 GS treatment groups, there was a significant increase in dry matter (DM) intake (p<0.01), average daily gain (ADG) (p<0.05), organic matter intake (p<0.05), DM digestibility (p<0.05), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility (p<0.05), and acid detergent fibre (ADF) digestibility (p<0.05). Dietary GS supplementation result in quadratic increases of DM intake (p<0.01), ADG (p<0.05), NDF intake (p<0.05), and ADF intake (p<0.05). Supplementing the basal diet with GS significantly increased nitrogen (N) retention (p<0.001) and the ratio of retention N to N intake (p<0.001). Supplementing the basal diet with GS significantly decreased methane (CH₄) emissions (p<0.01), CH₄/BW^0.75 (p<0.05) and CH₄ energy (CH₄-E) (p<0.05). Dietary GS supplementation result in quadratic increases of CH₄ (p<0.01) and CH₄/DM intake (p<0.01). Compared with 0 GS, GS-supplemented diets significantly improved their gross energy intake (p<0.05). The metabolizable energy and digestive energy intake were significantly greater for calves in the 100 GS and 200 GS calves than for 0 GS calves (p<0.05). Conclusion: From this study, we conclude that supplementing calf diets with GS could improve utilization of feed, energy, and N, and may reduce CH₄ emissions without having any negative effects on animal health.