Time-based restriction and refeeding programmes in growing rabbits: effects on feeding behaviour, feed efficiency, nutrient digestibility, and caecal fermentative activity

Author(s):  
M. Birolo ◽  
A. Trocino ◽  
A. Zuffellato ◽  
G. Xiccato
1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Thacker ◽  
G. L. Campbell ◽  
J. W. D. GrootWassink

Two experiments of a factorial design (sex × treatment) were conducted to determine the effects of enzyme and salinomycin supplementation on the nutritive value of barley or rye-based diets for growing pigs fed from approximately 20 to 85 kg. For exp. 1, 72 crossbred pigs were fed either a barley-based control diet or a similar diet supplemented with enzyme (Aspergillus niger; 750 units g−1 beta-glucanase and 650 units g−1 pentosanase), salinomycin (25 ppm) or both additives in combination. For exp. 2, two replicates of 48 pigs were fed either a barley-based diet, an unsupplemented rye-based diet or a rye-based diet supplemented with enzyme, salinomycin or both additives. During both experiments, chromic oxide (0.5%) was added to the diet of four to six pigs/treatment to act as a digestibility indicator starting when the pigs reached 42 kg. Neither enzyme nor salinomycin, alone or in combination, significantly improved the growth rate or feed efficiency of pigs fed barley or rye. Supplementation of barley with the combination of additives significantly (P < 0.05) improved protein digestibility while neither enzyme nor salinomycin had any effect on nutrient digestibility when fed alone. In rye-based diets, salinomycin, both alone and in combination, significantly (P < 0.05) improved the digestibility of crude protein and energy. Dry matter digestibility of the rye-based diets was unaffected by treatment. Key words: Swine, rye, barley, beta-glucanase, pentosanase, salinomycin


Dairy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-694
Author(s):  
Lenka Krpálková ◽  
Niall O’Mahony ◽  
Anderson Carvalho ◽  
Sean Campbell ◽  
Gerard Corkery ◽  
...  

Identification of the associations of cow feed efficiency with feeding behaviour and milk production is important for supporting recommendations of strategies that optimise milk yield. The objective of this study was to identify associations between measures of feed efficiency, feed intake, feeding rate, rumination time, feeding time, and milk production using data collected from 26 dairy cows during a 3 month period in 2018. Cows averaged (mean ± standard deviation) 2.2 ± 1.7 lactations, 128 ± 40 days in milk, 27.5 ± 5.5 kg/day milk, 1.95 ± 0.69 kg feed/1 kg milk—the measure used to express feed conversion ratio (FCR), 575 ± 72 min/day rumination time, and 264 ± 67 min/day feeding time during the observation period. The coefficient of variation for rumination time (min/d) was 12.5%. A mixed linear model was selected for analyses. The most feed inefficient cows with the highest FCR (≥2.6 kg feed/1 kg milk) showed the lowest milk yield (24.8 kg/day), highest feed intake (78.8 kg), highest feeding rate (0.26 kg/min) and BCS (3.35 point). However, the relative milk yield (milk yield per 100 kg of body weight) was the highest (4.01 kg/day) in the most efficient group with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk). Our study showed that the most efficient cows with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk) had the highest rumination time (597 min/day; p < 0.05), feeding time (298 min/day; p < 0.05), rumination/activity ratio (4.39; p < 0.05) and rumination/feeding ratio (2.04; p < 0.05). Less active cows (activity time 164 min/day; p < 0.05) were the most efficient cows with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk). The behavioural differences observed in this study provide new insight into the association of feed behaviour and feed efficiency with milk performance. Incorporating feeding behaviour into the dry matter intake model can improve its accuracy in the future and benefit breeding programmes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Dobos ◽  
Robert Herd

Spectral analysis was used to quantify differences in feeding patterns of Angus steers genetically divergent in residual feed intake (RFI). Forty-two low RFI (more efficient) and 28 high RFI (less efficient) selection line steers were fed a feedlot diet through electronic feeders for 72 days. Mean (±s.e.) daily feed intake was 11.9 ± 0.076 and 12.7 ± 0.095 kg dry matter/day over the 72-day feeding period for low and high RFI steers, respectively. The high RFI steers exhibited different temporal cycles to the low RFI steers in daily feed intake and time spent feeding. However, patterns of number of eating sessions, feeding rate, the time spent eating and the number of eating sessions were similar. Further analysis of daily (24 h) feeding behaviour is required to help improve our understanding of the association between feeding behaviour and feed efficiency.


2002 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. McG. Argo ◽  
J. E. Cox ◽  
C. Lockyer ◽  
Z. Fuller

AbstractSeven, 3-year-old pony mares (~230 kg) were used in a cross-over study to compare the appetite, energy and nutrient digestibilities, growth rate and feeding behaviour, when a complete diet was offered ad libitum in either the original loose-chaff mix (C), or as a more convenient, milled and pelleted preparation (P). Ad libitum access to the study diet (gross energy = 17·2 MJ/kg dry matter (DM)) was attained over 2 weeks. In the following 4 weeks, groups 1 (no. = 3) and 2 (no. = 4) received pelleted and chaff-based diets respectively. Dietary forms were exchanged during week 5 and ad libitum provision continued for a further 4 weeks. Behaviour and apparent nutrient digestibilities were assessed in weeks 3 and 4 of each period. Pelleted food had a lower proportion of water (P, 0·12; C, 0·22), but relative proportions of oil (0·04), crude protein (0·08), crude fibre (0·29), neutral-detergent fibre (NDF; 0·53) and gross energy (GE) were neither altered by food processing nor time. Apparent digestibilities (DM, 0·49; GE, 0·50; NDF, 0·40 in period 1) of the pelleted and chaff-based diets were similar within periods but decreased (P 0·01) to a similar extent for both diet types (proportional changes: DM, –0·14; GE, –0·16; NDF, –0·28) in period 2. Overall, mean intakes of digestible energy (DE) for chaff-fed animals during period 1 were 0·73 (P 0·001) of pellet DE intake (DEI). Mean DEI of pellets increased (P 0·001) during period 1 to attain 1·76 (s.e. 0·25) MJ/kg M0·75 on day 25. Following transfer from pellets to chaff, DEI decreased (P 0·001) to 0·68 (s.e. 0·07) MJ/kg M0·75 by the end of period 2. In contrast, DEI of animals which progressed from chaff to pellets remained relatively constant between periods. Oestrous behaviour caused no detectable change in the appetite of individual mares. Irrespective of differences in DEI, average daily gain (ADG) in body weight and condition score (CS) did not differ between groups. Overall, mean ADG decreased (P 0·01) from 1·54 (s.e. 0·17) kg/day in period 1 to 0·26 (s.e.0·08) kg/day in period 2. Changes in body weight were associated with CS (R2 = 0·72). Each CS point represented a 53·4 (s.e. 4·8) kg gain in body weight. Chaff meals were longer (30·6 (s.e. 1·6) min, P 0·001), less frequent (23·8 (s.e. 1·4) per day, P 0·001) and associated with a lower bite rate (3·8 (s.e.0·2) per min, P 0·001) and increased chewing requirement (23 (s.e. 1·2) per bite, P 0·001), which decreased the rate of DM intake (17·0 (s.e. 0·9) g/min, P 0·0.01). Overall, chaff-fed animals spent more time feeding (0·50 (s.e. 1·3) of the time; P 0·0.01), primarily at the expense of non-feeding activity and rest. The ad libitum feeding regime enabled stabled ponies to re-establish natural feeding patterns and offers a viable alternative to meal and forage feeding. The more slowly ingested chaff form maximized time spent feeding and limited changes in DEI during the introductory period. Although CS and ADG increased over the first 4 weeks, growth and appetite returned to near maintenance values within 9 weeks in association with a decrease in dietary energy intake and nutrient digestibility.


1958 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. E. Lloyd ◽  
E. W. Crampton

The substitution of a mixture of meat meal and whey powder for the skimmilk powder in a dry early-weaning pig ration resulted in a decreased rate of gain and feed efficiency. These decreases were shown to be due, at least in part, to a lower digestibility of crude protein and total carbohydrate in meat meal and whey powder rations.The addition of methionine did not improve rate of gain, feed efficiency or nutrient digestibility in any of the treatments studied. Thus, a methionine level of 0.65 per cent of the ration (2.5 per cent of the protein) appears to be adequate for pigs between 2 and 8 weeks of age.Rate of gain of pigs fed rations containing 26 per cent protein was significantly greater than that of pigs fed 30 per cent protein rations; but, in terms of feed efficiency and nutrient digestibility, both levels of protein resulted in similar values.The dry matter, gross energy, crude protein, ether extract and total carbohydrate of all rations were digested to a greater extent by 7- than by 3-week-old pigs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joelson Antonio Silva ◽  
Camilla Gabriela Miranda Silva ◽  
Daniel De Paula Sousa ◽  
Nelcino Francisco de Paula ◽  
Ana Paula Da Silva Carvalho ◽  
...  

This study aimed to evaluate the supplementation strategies on forage intake and nutrient digestibility, feeding behavior, milk production and composition, feed efficiency, nitrogen balance and body weight change of dairy cows kept in Tanzania grass pastures (Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. Tanzania) in the dry season. We used eight crossbred Holstein and Zebu cows in the final third of lactation, with an average weight of 505±44 kg and initial milk production of 9.0±1.44 kg day-1, in a double 4X4 Latin square design. The experiment consisted of four experimental periods of 17 days each, with nine days for initial adaptation and eight days to collect data. Treatments consisted of mineral mix and supplements (energy, protein or multiple) provided in the amount of 2 kg per cow day-1. Supplements promoted increased consumption of dry matter and nutrients (P < 0.05), without changing the forage intake in relation to the mineral mixture. The treatments did not affect the feeding behavior of animals (P > 0.05). There was an increase (P < 0.05) of 19.51% in milk production in the supplemented animals and productive responses approximate marginal 0.64 kg of milk for each kg of supplied supplement, however, the different supplements promoted a drop in the milk fat. There were higher net energy values of animal lactation for protein-energy supplementation and mineral mixture, but no change was observed in feed efficiency and energy efficiency. The performance of dairy cows kept in tropical grass pasture can be improved with the use of a concentrate supplementation of 0.40% of body weight per day-1 without compromising the forage intake of animals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 475-475
Author(s):  
Stafford Vigors ◽  
Torres Sweeney

Abstract While the intestinal microbiota is functionally important in nutrient digestibility and animal performance, the role of the microbiome in influencing feed efficiency is not well characterised. The objective of this experiment was to determine the relative influence of feed efficiency and farm of origin on the pig colonic microbiome. Animals were sourced from two geographically distinct locations in Ireland (farm A + B) and evaluated to identify pigs divergent in feed efficiency. The 8 most efficient (LRFI) & 8 least efficient (HRFI) pigs from farm A and 12 LRFI & 12 HRFI pigs from farm B were slaughtered. Colonic digesta was collected for sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed on the Illumina MiSeq. Alpha diversity differed between the farms in this study with pigs from farm A having greater diversity based on Shannon and InvSimpson measures compared to pigs from farm B (P &lt; 0.05). In agreement with this observation, pigs grouped by farm of origin rather than RFI in the beta diversity analysis. However, despite variation between farms, interesting taxonomic differences were identified between RFI groups. Within the phylum Bacteroidetes, the LRFI pigs had increased abundance of two families BS11 (P &lt; 0.05) and a tendency towards increased Bacteroidaceae (P &lt; 0.10) relative to the HRFI group. At genus level, the LRFI pigs had a tendency towards increased Bacteroides and CF231 (P &lt; 0.10). In conclusion, while farm of origin has a substantial influence on microbial diversity in the pig colon, a microbial signature indicative of feed efficiency status was evident.


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