Rumen fermentation pattern, postruminal protein flow and wool growth rate of sheep on a high-barley diet

1985 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
PI Hynd ◽  
WG Allden

Variations in the wool growth rate of sheep fed diets containing cereal grains were investigated. In experiment 1, eight sheep consuming similar quantities of a pelleted diet of barley grain and lucerne chaff (60:40 by weight) were selected for high (n = 4) or low (n = 4) wool growth rate. These wool growth differences were eliminated by feeding a high-protein, predominantly roughage diet. Subsequent reintroduction of the high-grain diet regenerated wide between-sheep variance, but there was little evidence of repeatability of performance on this ration. These variations in wool growth were examined in experiment 2 in terms of rumen fermentation pattern and postruminal protein flow. Ten sheep with simple cannulae in the rumen and abomasum were given a pelleted lucerne chaff diet for 14 weeks and the high-grain diet of experiment 1 for a further 16 weeks. The variance of all measured characters was low on the lucerne diet, but the high-barley diet generated wide variance in rumen fermentation pattern, protein flow from the rumen and wool growth rate. Fermentations characterized by high ammonia level, high minimum fluid pH and high butyrate molar proportion were associated with high urinary nitrogen output, high diet digestibility and low postruminal protein flow. Wool growth rate was closely related to protein flow on the high-grain diet alone (r2 = 0.77, P < 0.01) and for the high-grain and lucerne diets considered together (r2= 0.86, P < 0.001).

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
EM Aitchison ◽  
IG Ralph ◽  
JB Rowe

Three feed additives were studied for their potential to improve wool growth in sheep fed 2 diets; oaten chaff, or a pelleted mixture (g/kg) of lucerne (590), lupins (250), barley (1 50) and a mineral and vitamin mix (10). Additives were included with each diet as follows (mg/kg feed): avoparcin 25,50,75; flavomycin 5, 15, 30; lasalocid 30, 50, 70. Diets were fed at maintenance to mature Merino wethers for 9 weeks, and measurements were made of wool growth and rumen fermentation characteristics. Animals fed the pelleted diet grew more wool than those fed the chaff diet (6.3 compared with 5.1 g/m2.day, P<0.001), but none of the additives resulted in any significant differences in wool growth compared with the controls. The additives avoparcin and lasalocid increased the ratio of the volatile fatty acids propionate:acetate in animals eating both of the diets (P< 0.001), but flavomycin had no significant effect. Rumen ammonia concentration was increased with avoparcin on both diets (P< 0.001) and with lasalocid and flavomycin on the pelleted diet ( P < 0.05). None of the additives tested significantly influenced liveweight change in comparison with the control groups.


1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Murray ◽  
JB Rowe ◽  
EM Aitchison

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the use of 3 bentonite clays in sheep. Seventy-eight Merino ewes (about 20 months of age) were housed individually and fed either a pelleted diet based on lucerne, lupins and barley or chaffed wheat-hay. The experiment consisted of an initial period (8 weeks) during which all animals received these diets without bentonite, followed by a 9-week experimental period when bentonite clays were included in the feed at a level of 25 g/kg. None of the 3 bentonite clays had any significant effect on liveweight change or wool growth in sheep fed either diet. There was also no significant effect of the clays on rumen ammonia or volatile fatty acids concentrations in sheep fed wheat chaff. In sheep fed the pelleted diet, 2 of the clay samples increased the molar proportions of acetate and decreased the molar proportion of propionate relative to the control group.


1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 403 ◽  
Author(s):  
JJ Gardner ◽  
PT Doyle ◽  
JB Rowe ◽  
R Hetherington ◽  
P Spicer ◽  
...  

We examined the effects on liveweight change and wool production of supplements of lupin, barley grain, or silage given to Merino weaners (age 5-7 months; starting weight about 30 kg) grazing dry annual pastures. In experiment 1, each supplement was offered at 5 rates (g/sheep.day): lupin, air-dry, 75-450; barley, air-dry, 80-480; silage, fresh, 430-2580. Sheep on all treatments gained weight in the first 29 days of supplementary feeding, with no effect of rate of supplementation (lupin 97 g/day; barley 57 g/day; silage 74 g/day). Those receiving no supplement also gained weight (40 g/day). Different supplements were not compared because the energy levels of lupin and barley were not measured. Over the next 48 days, liveweight changes increased (P<0.001) linearly with rate of feeding of lupin (25 � 2.1 g/100 g) and barley (12 � 0.8 g/100 g). The trend with silage (11 � 5.0 g/kg) was not significant. Taken over the 77 days, liveweight changes increased (P<0.01) linearly with rate of feeding for lupin (20 �. 1.8 g/100 g), barley (8 �. 1.7 g/100 g), and silage (10 �. 2 g/kg). There were no significant (P>0.05) differences associated with the rate of supplementation for annual clean fleece weight (lupin 3.43 kg, barley 3.37 kg, silage 3.30 kg) or mean fibre diameter of the 12-month fleece (lupin 22.2 �m, barley 22.6 �m, silage 22.1 �m). In experiment 2, sheep were given no supplement, lupin, barley, or lupin and barley mixtures (metabolisable energy ratio, 1:3,1:1,3:1). All supplements increased liveweight change (P<0.01) and clean wool growth rates (P<0.05) compared with no supplement. There was also a trend towards an increase in total wool grown by supplemented sheep (3.8 - 4.00 v. 3.73 kg). Liveweight change during the first 71 days of feeding increased (P<0.01) as the proportion of lupin in the supplement increased, with no effects in the final 70 days of supplementation. During supplementation, clean wool growth rate increased (P<0.05) as the proportion of lupin in the mixture increased, but there was no significant effect on the total amount of wool grown over 12 months or on mean fibre diameter. Supplements resulted in increased (P<0.001) staple strength when compared with controls (21-25 v. 14 N/ktex).


1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Murray ◽  
JB Rowe ◽  
EM Aitchison ◽  
SG Winslow

The feed additive virginiamycin was evaluated for its potential to improve wool growth and liveweight gain in Merino sheep in 2 experiments. In the first experiment 84 wethers (about 10 months old) were housed individually and fed ad libitum a pelleted diet based on lucerne chaff, lupin, and barley grain. Control sheep (28) were fed an unmedicated diet, and 14 in each of 4 groups were given diets containing 10, 20, 40, or 60 mg virginiamycin/kg pellets. Virginiamycin was found to reduce feed intake during the first 4-5 weeks of the experiment when included at levels 220 g/t. There was a dose-related reduction in liveweight gain. There was no significant effect of virginiamycin on wool growth. In the second experiment, weaners and adults from 2 locations in Western Australia, Mount Barker (relatively high rainfall) and Wongan Hills (relatively low rainfall and shorter pasture-growing period), were housed individually in a shed and fed a pelleted diet at rates equivalent to 3.5 and 3.1%, respectively, of liveweight for weaners and adults. The pelleted ration was based on wheat and lucerne chaff, lupin grain, and fishmeal. Virginiamycin was included at 20 mg/kg pellets for 16 of 40 sheep of each age and location. The remaining sheep were fed the unmedicated diet. Feed conversion and liveweight gain improved (P<0.05) in response to the inclusion of virginiamycin during the first 4 weeks of the trial, but wool growth was reduced over the same period. Virginiamycin had no effect on fibre diameter in sheep in either experiment.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1998 ◽  
pp. 63-63
Author(s):  
C. Rymer ◽  
D.I. Givens

The gas production (GP) technique has been developed to assess dynamics of ruminant digestion. Relationships have been observed between a feed's GP profile and in vivo parameters such as digestibility (Khazaal et al., 1993), feed intake and growth rate (Blümmel and Ørskov, 1993), and in situ degradability (Sileshi et al., 1997). However, there are few studies which relate GP data to the in vivo pattern of rumen fermentation (in terms of the rate of pH decline 2 h post-feeding and the mean rumen pH, concentration of total VFA and molar proportion of individual VFA). The object of this experiment was to determine whether such a relationship existed between a feed's GP profile and the pattern of rumen fermentation observed in animals fed that feed.


1978 ◽  
Vol 18 (90) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
RA Hunter

Merino ewes were mated at pasture and then fed in pens either a maintenance or an 80 per cent maintenance ration of wheat grain three times a week. Half the animals at each feeding level were offered Spotted Gum (Eucalyptus maculata) sawdust. Addition of sawdust to the ration did not affect liveweight change and the wool growth rate of ewes or the birth weight and growth rate of lambs. It did, however, affect the long-term survival rate of ewes. Of the ewes that died after three months of survival feeding, four were in groups fed wheat alone and one in a group fed sawdust with the wheat. The survival rate and growth rate of lambs in all treatments were poor.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3126
Author(s):  
Tomasz Daszkiewicz ◽  
Andrzej Gugołek ◽  
Dorota Kubiak ◽  
Krzysztof Kerbaum ◽  
Ewa Burczyk

The aim of this study was to compare the fatty acid (FA) profile of meat from New Zealand White rabbits raised from 30 to 90 days of age under intensive (IPS) and extensive (EPS) production systems. In group IPS, the rabbits were housed in wire mesh cages with a slatted floor (16.7 animals/m2) and were fed a commercial pelleted diet. In group EPS, the rabbits were housed in free-standing cages on straw litter (2.5 animals/m2) and were fed a conventional farm-made diet (green fodder, barley grain, stale bread, hay). The FA profile of intramuscular fat (IMF) was analyzed in samples of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscle. The analyzed production systems had no significant effect on the content of most FAs in IMF. However, the differences between group means contributed to more desirable values of the quality indicators of IMF (in particular in the LTL muscle) in group IPS. The study demonstrated that the claim that meat produced under less intensive farming systems is of superior quality could be an oversimplified generalization that should be validated in research.


1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.A.G. Veen ◽  
J. Veling ◽  
Y.T. Bakker

In a crossover trial, 4 cows were given concentrates containing rapidly and slowly degradable protein in combination with prewilted grass silage. Diets were given in 2 equal daily portions according to DCP and net energy requirements. The trial consisted of 3 main periods of 3 weeks each, with faeces, urine and milk collected and measured during the final week. On 1 day during this week samples of rumen fluid were taken and on 2 days blood samples were taken, directly before the morning feed and 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 h later. N digestibity and N retention were the same on both rations. A concentrate with slowly-degradable protein resulted in a significantly higher rumen pH and acetate:propionate ratio. Ammonia concn. tended to be lower. Slowly-degradable concentrate protein led to a significantly higher concn. of urea and a lower concn. of insulin in blood. The concn. of several of the essential amino acids, and of the glucogenic amino acids and glycine was significantly lower. There were no significant effects of type of protein on milk yield or milk composition, but there was a tendency for these parameters to increase with ration containing slowly-degradable protein. Results suggest the ration containing slowly-degradable concentrate protein produced a more even rumen fermentation, which promoted a higher acetate:propionate ration in the rumen. On this ration there was a tendency for more gluconeogenesis from amino acids to occur. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)


2011 ◽  
Vol 282-283 ◽  
pp. 531-534
Author(s):  
Yao Liang ◽  
Jie Cheng ◽  
Rong Bin Lv ◽  
Sheng Jie Zhang ◽  
Fei Pan ◽  
...  

Pseudomonas syringaepv. mori M4-13 is a new coronatine-production strain isolated from mulberry trees. As a high efficient plant growth substance, coronatine is difficult to obtain from the traditional bacteria under the high temperature. The fermentation temperature cannot be greater than 301K. However, the coronatine production is strictly growth associated. Therefore, biomass growth and accumulation of coronatine should be studied coordinately. In this paper, the growth rate of the strain was studied by the square root model, and the temperature-changing fermentation pattern of coronatine was optimized. In the fitting function of , the value of b was 0.03276, c was 0.1759, R2= 0.99. Based on the results, the optimal growth temperature of Pseudomonas syringae pv.moriM4-13 is 305K. The accumulation of coronatine reaches the peak, when the strain was incubated at the 305K for 3 days, following with the fermentation at 291K for another 3days. This fermentation pattern lay a solid foundation for the large-scale applications in the industrial production.


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