The effect on the digestibility of selecting cows with high or low particle outflow rate

Author(s):  
E.R. Ørskov ◽  
I.A. Ojwang

Differences in rumen volume can have considerable effects on the digestibility and voluntary intake of ruminants. For instance Mould et al. 1982 showed that cattle in Bangladesh had a much greater rumen volume relative to live weight than reported values of Friesian cattle. They also consume much more straw per unit of live weight than Friesian cattle.Differences between cows in the ability to consume roughage have often been observed. It is however possible that this strategy could be adopted simply by increasing outflow rate and not necessarily by a high rumen volume. Depending on the strategy adopted this would give rise to differences in the digestibility of the roughage consumed.In order to investigate these aspects in more detail, 22 lactating Friesian cows were given doses of Cr-mordanted straw having been ground through a hammer mill with a 2 mm screen. The cows were fed completely mixed diets consisting of 50% ammonia treated straw and 50% concentrate.

2001 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. M. Fonseca ◽  
A. A. Dias-da-Silva ◽  
A. L. G. Lourenço

AbstractTwo experiments with lambs given food indoors and individually penned were designed to study the effects of different levels of ground maize and citrus pulp as supplements of a diet based on urea-treated straw (5 kg urea per 100 kg straw) offered ad libitum over a period of 16 weeks (experiment 1) or 10 weeks (experiment 2). The voluntary intake, live-weight gain (LWG), organic matter digestibility (OMD), urinary allantoin-nitrogen (UAN) excretion and acetate clearance rate were measured. The lambs were blocked on weight and randomly assigned to the treatments described below. Ruminal outflow rate of the solid and liquid phases from the rumen were also measured in experiment 2.In experiment 1, 20 female lambs from the Ile-de-France breed, with an initial live weight (LW) of 43 (s.e. 3·3) kg were used. Wheat straw (WS) was supplemented with 50 g/kg of fish meal (FM) and with 0, 100, 200 or 300 g/kg of ground maize on a dry-matter (DM) basis (M0, M1, M2 and M3, respectively). In experiment 2, 25 female lambs from the Portuguese breed Churra-da-Terra-Quente, with an initial LW of 24·2 (s.e. 4·3) kg were used. The straw was offered ad libitum during 10 weeks and supplemented with 50 g/kg of FM and 0, 100, 200, 300, or 400 g/kg of dried citrus pulp on a DM basis (CP0, CP1, CP2, CP3 and CP4, respectively).During the experiments, all animals were moved to metabolism cages to measure OMD and UAN excretion. Two additional incubation studies were carried out with rumen fistulated rams (experiment 1) or cows (experiment 2) given the diets described above close to the maintenance feeding level.In experiment 1 daily straw DM intake linearly decreased (P < 0·05) from 21·6 to 17·7 g/kg LW and LWG linearly increased (P < 0·05) from 51 to 154 g/day for treatments M0, M1, M2 and M3, respectively. The rate of straw DM degradation was significantly decreased (P < 0·01) by maize supplementation. Straw OMD (kg/kg) was 0·562, 0·583, 0·547 and 0·520 and UAN (mg/day) was 620, 790, 854 and 859 for treatments M0, M1, M2 and M3, respectively. Acetate clearance rate, increased (P < 0·05) as the level of maize inclusion increased.In experiment 2 daily straw DM intake was 23·3, 25·8, 24·7, 23·5 and 18·6 g/kg LW per day and LWG was –9, 28, 44, 64 and 67 g/day for treatments CP0, CP1, CP2, CP3 and CP4, respectively. Supplementation significantly increased LWG (P < 0·001) but at the 400 g/kg level depressed straw DM intake. Straw OMD linearly decreased (P < 0·05) from 0·484 (CP0) to 0·428 (CP4) g/kg and UAN (mg/day) was 181, 303, 363, 384 and 392 for treatments CP0, CP1, CP2, CP3 and CP4, respectively. Rumen outflow rate of fibre particles was unaffected by supplementation while the outflow of liquid phase tended to be increased (P < 0·10). The rate of DM degradation was significantly reduced (P < 0·01) by citrus-pulp inclusion. Acetate clearance rate was unaffected (P > 0·05) by citrus-pulp supplementation.The results of these experiments demonstrate that supplementation of urea-treated straw with ground maize up to 200 g/kg or with citrus pulp up to 300 g/kg of the diet DM increased or did not depress straw intake, increased the supply of microbial protein and have no significant effect on straw digestibility. The efficiency of utilization of absorbed energy was apparently improved by maize but not by citrus-pulp supplementation.


1989 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Gherardi ◽  
J. L. Black

The effect of post-rumen supply of nutrients on the rumen digesta load and voluntary consumption of roughage by Border Leicester × Merino ram lambs was investigated. A chopped wheaten hay was offered to the ram lambs (n 24), whose nutrient intake was altered by infusing into the abomasum a liquid supplement, containing reconstituted cow's milk, sodium caseinate, minerals and vitamins, for a period of at least 30 d. Either two or three lambs were allocated by live weight to each of ten rates of nutrient supplementation. The lambs were slaughtered at a target live weight of 31 kg. Voluntary intake of hay was estimated over the last 7 d of feeding. The amounts of digesta and organic matter (OM) in the rumen were measured by emptying after slaughter. The particle size distribution of the digesta was measured by wet sieving and the fractional outflow rate of particulate matter by reference to the marker lignin. Growth rate of the lambs increased linearly as total energy infused increased. The linear increase in growth rate indicated that roughage was not substituted for infused nutrients on a direct energy basis. OM intake from hay declined linearly as the amount of nutrients infused increased. The decline in intake was associated with a decline in both total digesta and the amount of rumen OM. Both the fractional digestion rate of OM and the fractional outflow rate of particulate matter from the rumen were unaffected by the amount of nutrients infused. The results indicated that the rumen digesta load of young sheep fed on a single roughage is directly related to their energy deficit, that is the difference between the capacity of the animals to use energy and the energy available to them for metabolism.


1990 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Cruickshank ◽  
D. P. Poppi ◽  
A. R. Sykes ◽  
A. S. Familton

SUMMARYThe voluntary food intake, in vivo digestibility and site of nutrient digestion was measured in 12 Polled Dorset ram lambs, from 6 to 24 weeks of age, offered clover hay. Lambs were weaned at 6 weeks of age. Six were fitted with a permanent T-shaped cannula in the abomasum and a temporary rumen catheter during the periods of digesta flow measurement.Surgical modification of lambs did not influence intake (g/kg live weight (W) per day), in vivo digestibility or marker retention time in the rumen. However, intact lambs grew significantly faster than cannulated lambs (139 v. 109g/day, P < 0·05) apparently because of an overall higher cumulative intake over the whole experimental period rather than any change in efficiency of use of nutrients or maintenance requirement.Relative to live weight, intake increased rapidly until c. 10 weeks of age and remained relatively constant at c. 37 g DM/kg W per day for the remainder of the experiment. Age had no effect on in vivo digestibility of organic matter (OM) or neutral detergent fibre (NDF) (average 0·69).The proportion of digestible organic matter apparently digested in the rumen (DOMADR) decreased from 0·63 to 0·47 between 8 and 24 weeks of age whilst intake between these measurement periods increased. Nonammonia N (NAN) flow past the abomasum was similar at all ages in relation to digestible organic matter intake (55·1 g NAN/kg DOMI) but was higher at 16 and 24 weeks of age than at 8 and 12 weeks of age, respectively, in relation to organic matter apparently digested in the rumen (OMADR) (116 and 85 g NAN/kg OMADR, respectively, P < 0·05).Fractional outflow rate of digesta markers from the rumen, when estimated from abomasal digesta, was significantly higher than when estimated from faeces (103Ru-p 0·121 v. 0·09; 51Cr-EDTA 0·169 v. 0·111/h; P > 0·05).It was concluded that cannulation did not affect intake and digestion characteristics in these young lambs. The changes in the site of nutrient digestion as the animals aged may have been due to agerelated changes in digestive function but appeared to be associated with the increase in intake that occurred between measurement periods of the cannulated lambs.


1991 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Jackson ◽  
C. L. Johnson ◽  
J. M. Forbes

ABSTRACTAn experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of compound composition and silage characteristics on silage intake, feeding behaviour and productive performance of dairy cows during the first 25 weeks of lactation. Over a period of 3 years, 36 lactating British Friesian cows (12 per year), in their third or later lactations, were divided into two groups. The cows in each group received either compound S, in which the principal energy source was cereal starch, or compound F containing a mixture of high quality digestible fibre. Cows given compound F ate 2·2 kg more silage dry matter per day (P < 0·05). The type of compound had no effect on the frequency of silage feeding and the time spent eating was significantly different only over weeks 10 to 25 of lactation (P < 0·05), with cows on compound F spending on average 20 min longer feeding per day. Cows on compound F produced 1·7 kg more milk per day than cows on compound S. Although there were no significant differences in the concentration of milk constituents, compound F was associated with higher yields of milk constituents. Significant differences were found between the years of experiment in the frequency of feeding (P < 0·05) and also in the concentration of milk protein and milk fat. There were no significant differences in the magnitude of live-weight change between treatments or year of experiment.


1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Sutton ◽  
J. A. Bines ◽  
S. V. Morant ◽  
D. J. Napper ◽  
D. J. Givens

SummaryTwenty-four Friesian cows were allocated to one of four diets for weeks 3–14 of lactation following 2 weeks on a common diet. The diets (kg air-dry feed/day) were 7–2 kg hay and 10·8 kg either starchy or fibrous concentrates (60S and 60F) or 3·5 kg hay and 14·0 kg either starchy or fibrous concentrates (80S and 80F). Rumen samples were taken by stomach tube in weeks 10 and 12 of lactation and the digestibility of the diets was measured with four cows per treatment during weeks 13 and 14. The digestibility of the same feeds was also measured in sheep at maintenance.The principal carbohydrate constituents of the concentrates were barley, wheat and cassava in the starchy concentrates and citrus pulp, sugar-beet pulp and wheat feed in the fibrous concentrates. The concentrates were designed to have similar concentrations of metabolizable energy (ME) and the diets were planned to provide similar intakes of digestible energy and crude protein.Milk yield and composition were very similar for treatments 60S and 60F. With the higher proportion of starchy concentrates (80S), milk yield was about 20% greater than on 60S, fat concentration fell severely but protein and lactose concentrations were unaffected. With the higher proportion of fibrous concentrates (80F), milk yield and the protein and lactose concentration were similar to values on 60F but fat concentration was lower, though not nearly so low as on 80S. Milk energy yield was reduced by the higher proportion of concentrates but was unaffected by type of carbohydrates. Live-weight changes were small.In both the sheep, consuming at maintenance, and the lactating cows consuming at about 3 times maintenance, digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and energy was higher with the higher concentrate diets but was unaffected by type of concentrate. The digestibility of fibre was greater with the fibrous concentrates but the effect of level of concentrate inclusion was inconsistent. Digestibility coefficients were consistently lower for the lactating cows than for the sheep.The proportion of acetic acid in the rumen volatile fatty acids in the cows was higher and the proportion of propionic acid was lower with the fibrous concentrates. The differences were much greater with the higher proportion of concentrates.During weeks 15–22 of lactation the cows were reallocated to concentrate treatments and given hay ad libitum. Hay intake was about 1 kg/day higher with the fibrous concentrates but the difference was not significant. Hay intake fell by about 0·6 kg/kg concentrate intake for both concentrate types. No significant differences in milk yield or composition were established, probably because of incomplete adaptation even after 8 weeks.It is concluded that at concentrate intakes of about 10 kg/day, the source of carbohydrate in the concentrates has little effect on milk production when the concentrates are of similar ME concentration. However, at higher levels of concentrate inclusion, although the diets may have similar ME concentrations, important differences in the yields of fat, protein and lactose occur due to carbohydrate source and these can be related to differences in rumen fermentation.


1970 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. T. Treacher

SUMMARY1. Scottish Half-bred ewes carrying twin foetuses were fed individually to make live-weight gains in the last six weeks of pregnancy of (1) 20%, (2) 10% and (3) 0% of their live weight in week 14 of pregnancy. In lactation the ewes were fed ad libitum. The lambs were removed 12 to 16 hr after parturition and the ewes were machine-milked twice daily for the first six weeks of lactation.2. Total birth weights per ewe of twin lambs from the treatments were (1) 10·10 kg, (2) 9·44 kg and (3) 8·18 kg and differed significantly.3. The level and pattern of voluntary intake in lactation did not differ significantly between the treatments. Total dry-matter intakes in the six weeks of lactation were (1) 121·9 kg (2) 105·9 kg and (3) 109·5 kg.4. The pregnancy treatments affected the level of milk production and the shape of lactation curves. The total yields in the first six weeks of lactation were (1) 58·8 kg, (2) 43·5 kg and (3) 26·9 kg. Higher contents of fat and protein and the lower content of lactose in the milk from treatment-3 ewes on days 1 and 3 of lactation indicated a slower onset of lactation in these ewes. Between days 7 and 35 of lactation the contents of fat and SNF were lowest on treatment 3 but the differences were not significant.5. The live-weight changes in lactation, which were in inverse order to the gains in late pregnancy, were (1) 3·4 kg, (2) 5·5 kg and (3) 9·5 kg.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Ari Sulistyo Wulandari ◽  
HD Rahayu ◽  
SD Volkandari ◽  
N Herlina ◽  
S Anwar ◽  
...  

<p class="abstrak2">Stearoyl-Coenzyme A desaturase 1 (SCD1) belongs to the fatty acid family of desaturases. In lactating ruminants, the SCD1 protein is highly expressed in the mammary gland and is relevant for the fatty acid composition of milk and dairy products. Polymorphism of SCD1 gene in Holstein-Friesian (HF) cows could be used as a basis of molecular selection of cattle in order to increase their productivity. The aim of this study was to investigate the polymorphism of SCD1 gene of Holstein-Friesian cows in Indonesia. A total of 162 blood samples of HF cows were collected from four different locations i.e. Bogor, Sukabumi, Tasikmalaya and Enrekang districts. Genotyping of SCD1 gene used PCR-RFLP method with NcoI restriction enzyme. The result showed that three genotypes (AA, AV and VV) and two alleles (A and V) have successfully found and polymorphic. A allele was dominant in all populations (0.63) and in Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium. The highest A allele was found in Sukabumi (0.78) and the lowest was in Bogor (0.55). Heterozigosity observed and expected reached 0.471 and 0.470, respectively. In conclusion, genetic polymorphism was found in all population with dominant of A allele. This finding can be used as a early genetic information of Holstein-Friesian cattle in Indonesia and to build breeding strategy for improving of productivity especially improving of healthy fat milk. </p><p class="abstrak2"><span><br /></span></p>


1990 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Rook ◽  
M. Gill

ABSTRACTData on individually recorded silage dry-matter intake (SDMI), concentrate dry-matter intake (CDMI) and live weight of steers and data on silage composition including toluene dry matter (TDM), pH, total nitrogen (N), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), digestible organic matter in the dry matter (DOMD) and neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) obtained from experiments conducted at three sites were used to obtain simple and multiple linear regressions of SDMI on other variables.Live weight accounted for a high proportion of the variation in intake but this effect could generally be removed by scaling intake by live weight raised to the power of 0·75 (M0·75). CDMI was the most important factor affecting scaled intake in mixed diets. TDM, NH,-N and VFAs all had important effects on SDMI. The relationship of SDMI with TDM was curvilinear suggesting that there is little to be gained in intake terms from wilting to TDM above 250 g/kg. The effect of NH3-N appeared to be related more to its correlation with VFAs than with any other nitrogenous constituent while the VFAs appeared to have a direct effect on SDMI. The effects of N and pH on SDMI were generally small. DOMD and NDF had relatively little effect on SDMI. Significant differences in intercepts between sites were found for most relationships although common slopes were often found.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. e0603
Author(s):  
Pedro González-Redondo ◽  
Francisco P. Caravaca ◽  
Alberto García-Ávarez ◽  
Fernando Martínez-Moreno

Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) usually fed on ground or pelleted balanced feeds, while whole grains are supplied in alternative systems. Voluntary intake and preference of four whole-grain cereals (durum wheat, bread wheat, triticale and barley) were assessed in Japanese quails. Two experiments were performed: (i) a trial with five batches of six randomly selected quails (three males, three females) allocated to each treatment consisting of one cereal or a balanced feed (control) in the voluntary intake experiment; and (ii) a trial with four bird batches receiving simultaneously the four cereals in the preference experiment. Three repetitions of each trial were performed. When feedstuffs were provided as a sole feed, voluntary feed intake differed, being the highest in quails fed the balanced feed (20.0 g/d), intermediate for durum wheat (15.0 g/d), bread wheat (15.8 g/d) or triticale (15.6 g/d), and the lowest for barley (12.1 g/d). Voluntary intake did not differ between sexes. Positive correlations existed between voluntary feed intake and live weight of quails, being the highest and very strong for the balanced feed, moderate for durum and bread wheat and barley, and weak for triticale. The preference trial showed that quails preferred durum wheat (7.1 g/d), triticale (4.0 g/d), bread wheat (3.0 g/d) and barley (0.3 g/d) in descending order, independently of sex. Positive correlations existed between daily feed intake and live weight of birds for durum and bread wheat. Strong positive correlation existed between bird live weight and total intake when the four cereals were available simultaneously. Differences in voluntary intake and preference among whole-grain cereals should be take into account when used to feed quails.


1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
J. N. Methu ◽  
E. Owen ◽  
A. Abate ◽  
M. Scarr ◽  
J. Tanner

Several studies with barley straw (e.g. Wahed et al, 1990) and sorghum stover (e.g. Osafo, 1993) have shown improvements in intake with increasing ‘ad libitum’ amounts offered. Furthermore, these studies have demonstrated that sheep and goats offered barley straw or sorghum stover in long, unprocessed form, increase intake by selecting for leaf and leaf sheath, and against stem. This phenomenon offers a simple feeding strategy to use selective feeding behaviour to improve intake and hence production. The aim of the present experiment was to study the effect of offering increasing amounts of long maize stover on intake and selection by dairy cows.Six, early- to mid-lactation Ayrshire and Friesian cows (live weight, M, 430 kg) were used in a double 3x3 Latin square design with 24-day (d) feeding periods. Cows were offered long (unchopped) maize stover at low, medium or high ‘ad libitum’ rates, i.e. 31, 59 or 87 g dry matter (DM)/kg M.d. Cows also received 3.2 kg DM/d of cotton seed cake (339 g/kg DM crude protein) in two meals at milking (0700 h and 1800 h). Stover was offered in one meal daily, at 0700 h, after collecting refusals from the previous day. Amounts of stover offered and refused were weighed daily. Samples of offered stover (0.5 kg) and refused stover (0.5 kg) were analysed for DM daily. All refused stover and 4.0 kg samples of offered stover were botanically fractionated, daily, into stem (S), leaf (L), sheath (Sh) and husk (H). Milk yield was recorded daily and cows weighed at the start and end of each period.


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