scholarly journals Consequences of prenatal and preweaning growth for feedlot growth, intake and efficiency of Piedmontese- and Wagyu-sired cattle

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Cafe ◽  
D. W. Hennessy ◽  
H. Hearnshaw ◽  
S. G. Morris ◽  
P. L. Greenwood

Consequences of low (mean 28.0 kg, n = 77) and high (mean 38.4 kg, n = 77) birthweight followed by slow (mean 548 g/day, n = 75) or rapid (mean 859 g/day, n = 79) growth to weaning for feedlot growth, intake and efficiency from 26 to 30 months of age were determined in Wagyu × Hereford (n = 81) and Piedmontese × Hereford (n = 73) cattle. Cattle were selected for study based on birthweight and preweaning growth rate, from multi-modal distributions achieved by imposition of low or high maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, with the objective of achieving as close as possible to a 30% difference in birthweight and a 2-fold difference in preweaning growth rate between progeny groups. High birthweight cattle entered the intake test 57 kg heavier, grew 100 g/day more rapidly, and ate 1.0 kg dry matter /day more than the low birthweight cattle. The high birthweight cattle tended to have a higher feed conversion ratio than low birthweight cattle, but net feed intake did not differ due to birthweight group. Cattle grown rapidly to weaning entered the intake test 29 kg heavier, grew at an equivalent rate, and ate 0.7 kg dry matter/day more than the cattle grown slowly to weaning. No differences in feed conversion ratio or net feed intake were observed between the preweaning groups. When assessed at the same liveweight, differences in dry matter intake and/or feed conversion ratio due to birthweight or preweaning growth were no longer apparent. Interactions between prenatal and preweaning growth, or between sire genotype and early-life growth, were not evident for feedlot growth, intake or efficiency. It is concluded that severely restricted growth during prenatal life or from birth to weaning results in cattle that are smaller and consume less feed at the same age as their well grown counterparts; however, long-term effects of growth during early life on efficiency of utilisation of feed are not evident.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 627 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Velazco ◽  
R. M. Herd ◽  
D. J. Cottle ◽  
R. S. Hegarty

As daily methane production (DMP; g CH4/day) is strongly correlated with dry matter intake (DMI), the breeding of cattle that require less feed to achieve a desired rate of average daily gain (ADG) by selection for a low residual feed intake (RFI) can be expected to reduce DMP and also emission intensity (EI; g CH4/kg ADG). An experiment was conducted to compare DMP and EI of Angus cattle genetically divergent for RFI and 400-day weight (400dWT). In a 6-week grazing study, 64 yearling-age cattle (30 steers, 34 heifers) were grazed on temperate pastures, with heifers and steers grazing separate paddocks. Liveweight (LW) was monitored weekly and DMP of individual cattle was measured by a GreenFeed emission monitoring unit in each paddock. Thirty-nine of the possible 64 animals had emission data recorded for 15 or more days, and only data for these animals were analysed. For these cattle, regression against their mid-parent estimated breeding value (EBV) for post-weaning RFI (RFI-EBV) showed that a lower RFI-EBV was associated with higher LW at the start of experiment. Predicted dry matter intake (pDMI), predicted DMP (pDMP) and measured DMP (mDMP) were all negatively correlated with RFI-EBV (P < 0.05), whereas ADG, EI, predicted CH4 yield (pMY; g CH4/kg DMI) were not correlated with RFI-EBV (P > 0.1). Daily CH4 production was positively correlated with animal LW and ADG (P < 0.05). The associations between ADG and its dependent traits EI and pMY and predicted feed conversion ratio (kg pDMI/kg ADG) were strongly negative (r = –0.82, –0.57 and –0.85, P < 0.001) implying that faster daily growth by cattle was accompanied by lower EI, MY and feed conversion ratio. These results show that cattle genetically divergent for RFI do not necessarily differ in ADG, EI or pMY on pasture and that, if heavier, cattle with lower RFI-EBV can actually have higher DMP while grazing moderate quality pastures.



Aquaculture ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 481 ◽  
pp. 124-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.K. Omasaki ◽  
K. Janssen ◽  
M. Besson ◽  
H. Komen


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
B. B. Babatunde ◽  
R. A. Hamzat

Eighty black Nera cockerel chicks were randomly alloted to four dietarey treatmants containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% kolanut husk meal (KHM) for twelve weeks. Significant differences (P<0.05) in feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio were observed. Dietary inclusion of KHM depressed (P<0.05) growth rate feed conversion ratio and nutrition uilization of cockerels birds. There were linear reduction (P>0.05) in nitrogen retention and apparent crude fibre digestibility (ACFD) of  cockerels birds at each incremental KHM dietary levels. This indicated that KHM could be effeciently utilized by cockerels up to 205 dietary level above which the depression in growth rate occurs.



Author(s):  
Aliu BS ◽  
◽  
Obuseli OI ◽  

An experiment was designed and carried out to assess the growth performance and feed utilization (weight gain, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, specific growth rate, feed intake and survival) of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed graded levels of toasted Leucaena leucocephala seed meal based diets with the aim of establishing the best inclusion level of Leucaena seed meal. One hundred and eight (108) fingerlings with an initial mean weight of 2.10g were allotted at random to six treatments in triplicate groups with each treatment tank having six fingerlings and were fed with isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets containing 40% crude protein (CP). The toasted seed meal was used to replace soybean meal in the diets in the following proportions: diets I (0%), diets II (10%), diets III (20%), diets IV (30%), diets V (40%) and diets VI (50%). At the end of the feeding trials that lasted for 6 weeks, the mean weight gains of fish, relative weight gain, specific growth rate, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency was highest in treatment I while mean weight gain of fish, relative weight gain, specific growth rate and feed conversion ratio was lowest in treatment V. Feed intake was lowest in treatment VI and protein efficiency was lowest in treatment II. Survival among treatments slightly varied significantly but was not as a result of the feed consumed. At the end of the experiment, the recommended inclusion level of Leucaena seed meal was 20%.



2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 ◽  
pp. 71-71
Author(s):  
C.A. Tsourgiannis ◽  
V. Demečková ◽  
J. Eddison ◽  
P.H. Brooks

Salt (NaCl) is an essential mineral and its rate of inclusion in diets has been implicated in the development and expression of biting behaviour. Falkowskiet al., (1998) found that withholding salt from diets reduced the feed intake and feed conversion ratio of weaned pigs and significantly decreased growth rate. Studies reported by Fraser (1987), suggested that heightened appetite for salt could make pigs particularly attracted to pen mates with injured tails. More recently Tsourgiannis,et al., (2002) reported that 1.5% salt inclusion levels can significantly reduce the incidence of tail-biting, providing that there is unrestricted access to fresh water. This study investigated the effect on growth performance of pigs fed liquid diets containing high and low dietary salt levels for growing/finishing pigs.



2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
T. A. Adegbola ◽  
J. C. Okonkwo

Forty young rabbits were fed on five diets varying in cassava leaf meal (CLM) levels from 0% to 60%. Dry matter and nutrient intake and digestibility, weight gain and economics of CLM inclusion were determined. The DMI (g/d) ranged from 44.24 (60% CLM) to 66.85 (15% CLM); daily live weight gain (LWG, g/d) from 8.43 (60% CLM) to 21.36 (15% CLM); feed conversion ratio (FCR) from 3.13 (15% CLM) 10 5.27 (45% CLM). Differences between treatments in these production criteria were significant (P<0.01). Water consumption (l/kg) increased with inc levels of CLM inclusion (P<0.05). The digestibility of dry matter (DMD) and other nutrients decreased with increasing level of CLM inclusion (P<0.05). Economic analysis showed that diet 1 (0% CLM) was the least economical. Feed cost (N/kg gain) was similar for diets 2 to 5 (P>0.05). It may be concluded that CLM included at between 15 to 30% of the diet is adequate for growing rabbits. 



2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-148
Author(s):  
A. M. Umar ◽  
A. S. Muhammad ◽  
N. Adamu ◽  
M. Modi

A major cost of producing rabbits is that of feed. Palm kernel cake is cheaper and locally available than wheat offal. This study was therefore, conducted to evaluate the performance of rabbits fed Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) as a replacement for Wheat Offal (WO). Twenty weaned rabbits of both sexes were used in the experiment. The rabbits were allocated to five diets, each with four replicates. Each diet contained the same quantities of ingredients but PKC and WO were varied such that diet (A) was 0% PKC and 40% WO, (B)10% PKC and 30% WO, (C)20% PKC and 20% WO, (D)30% PKC and 10% WO, and (E)40% PKC and 0% WO to measure feed intake, growth rate and feed conversion ratio. Carcass and organs of the rabbits were analysed. Average daily feed intake of rabbits recorded for diet A, B, C, D and E was 49.37, 40.05, 38.18, 39.10 and 56.05. The results revealed an  insignificant difference in final weights of rabbits among all treatments which ranged from 777.50g (A) to 965.00g (E). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was also not significant and ranged from 5.21 – 4.55 with diet A having the highest FCR. There were also no significant differences in carcass and organ weights among the treatments. The carcass weight ranged from 395.00g to 594.25g on diet A and E respectively. Diet E had the highest dressing percentage (57.70%) while the least was recorded for diet B (53.28%). It can be concluded that PKC compared favourably with WO and could be used to replace the latter without  deleterious effects.



2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1301-1309
Author(s):  
Aimee-Louise Craig ◽  
Ramon Muns ◽  
Alan Gordon ◽  
Elizabeth Magowan

Objective: To evaluate the use of nurse sows and post-weaning nutrition strategies for low wean weight (WW) pigs on lifetime growth and efficiency.Methods: Animals (n = 270) were assigned to one of five treatments at 28 d. Low WW pigs (<6 kg) were either weaned and offered a special dietary regime recommended for low WW pigs (WEAN) or placed on a nurse sow (NURSE) and weaned at 49 d. Normal WW pigs (9 kg) (NORM) were also weaned at 28 d. After weaning, NORM and NURSE pigs were offered either a ‘high’ (4 kg/pig of starter 1 diet followed by 8 kg/pig of starter 2 diet) or ‘low’ (8 kg/pig of starter 2 diet) starter diet allowance in a 2×2 factorial arrangement. A typical grower diet was then offered, followed by a typical finisher diet until 147 d of age.Results: NORM pigs where heavier throughout their life compared to NURSE pigs (91.4 kg vs 76.2 kg at 147 d; p<0.001). WEAN pigs were heavier at 70 d compared to NURSE pigs (23.9 kg vs 21.0 kg; p<0.001), but there was no significant difference at 147 d between NURSE and WEAN treatments. NURSE pigs had reduced feed intake throughout the finishing period (1.6 kg/d; p<0.001) compared to WEAN (2.0 kg/d) and NORM (1.9 kg/d) pigs. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of NURSE (2.20) was lower than NORM and WEAN during the finishing period (2.40 and 2.79, respectively).Conclusion: Extended (up to 49 d) nursing for low WW pigs resulted in improved FCR during the finishing period, but no overall improvement in growth rate compared to low WW pigs weaned at 28 d and offered a specialised starter regime. Normal WW pigs where significantly heavier than low WW pigs throughout the study.



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