Estimating forage intake and energy requirements of free-ranging wapiti (Cervus elaphus)

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Jiang ◽  
R. J. Hudson

A single dose marker method was calibrated to estimate intakes of pasture forage by wapiti. Each animal was offered 250 g of alfalfa–barley pellets labeled with chromic oxide (Cr2O3), and freshly voided fecal samples were collected before and for 6–7 days after administration. Dry fecal output was calculated by dividing the marker dosage by the average fecal marker concentration. Feed intake was then calculated from fecal output and feed digestibility as determined by total fecal collection or the ratio of acid-insoluble ash in feed and feces. The concordance of the marker estimate with measured feed intake was tested on penned wapiti fed alfalfa–barley pellets or herbage. On pasture, the marker method was compared with intakes estimated by the bite-count method. As an additional check, data from pen and field studies were pooled to establish the relationship between metabolizable energy intake and body-weight gain. The single dose marker method provided a practical way to assess feed intake of free-ranging animals. Metabolizable energy requirements for maintenance of live weight were 572 kJ/W0.75 for penned wapiti in winter and 936 kJ/W0.75 for wapiti on summer pasture. Tissues mobilized during winter provided 26 kJ/g, and metabolizable energy requirement per unit liveweight gain was 39 kJ/g on summer pasture.


Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Normand Cool ◽  
Robert J. Hudson

Energy requirements of moose (Alces alces) and wapiti (Cervus elaphus) calves were compared from December to February to determine whether metabolic requirements were lower in a boreal-adapted than in a parkland-adapted wild cervid. Eight calves of each species were divided equally into groups given high or low quality diets. Regression of metabolizable energy intake on liveweight gain provided estimates for maintenance and gain, Metabolizable energy requirements for liveweight maintenance were 560 kj/kg0.75.d and for gain were 27 kj/g. Neither value was significantly different between moose and wapiti nor between genders within species. This similariry in winter metabolism and consistency with the interspecies mean suggests that winter metabolic dormancy is not necessarily an important part of a seasonal energetic strategy. The main difference was that moose calves maintained appetite and continued to grow throughout the winter.



2001 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. EARLY ◽  
O. MAHGOUB ◽  
C. D. LU

Energy requirements for maintenance and growth were estimated by comparative slaughter in Omani male lambs during the hot summer months (July–October: maximum temperature, 48 °C). Weaned lambs (n = 10 per diet) were fed one of three totally mixed, 160 g CP/kg DM diets that contained 600, 400 or 200 g rhodesgrass hay/kg for low (9·98 MJ/kg, medium (10·3 MJ/kg) and high (11·4 MJ/kg) energy contents, respectively. All diets were balanced to meet the minimum nutritional needs for maximum growth. The trial lasted for 113–114 days. The purpose of having three diets was to induce a broad spectrum of growth rates that could be used in regression analysis (tested for linear, quadratic and exponential effects). Metabolizable energy (ME) intake was regressed on live weight (LW), empty body weight, tissue energy and tissue protein gain and vice versa. Coefficients of determinations were not significantly improved by quadratic or logarithmic regressions over linear relationships. Geometric mean regressions were used to control further biases due to major axis dependence when Y is regressed on X or vice versa. Based on tissue energy gain, the best estimates of ME required for maintenance (MEm) and gain (MEg) were 526 kJ/kg LW0·75/d and 42·1 kJ/kg LW0·75/g LW gain, respectively. Net energy values for maintenance (NEm) and gain (NEg) were 278 kJ/kg LW0·75/d and 20·6 kJ/kg LW0·75/g LW gain, respectively. These equations predicted MEm and NEm requirements that were similar to or slightly greater than those established by the US National Research Council (1985) and the UK Agricultural and Food Research Council (1993) for growing male lambs. The MEg and NEg requirements were substantially greater (by 43–89%) in this respect. Efficiency values were calculated as net energy available for maintenance or gain divided by the metabolizable energy available for maintenance or gain. The efficiency of metabolizable energy used for maintenance and gain was 0·50 and 0·52, respectively, and did not appear to be much different from values for other breeds of sheep in temperate climates. Dietary energy concentrations did not affect the efficiency of energy deposition. The data suggest that Omani sheep in hot climates have greater NEg requirements, and consequently MEg requirements, than other breeds of sheep in temperate climates.



Author(s):  
Pauline A. Lee ◽  
W.H. Close

There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that the ARC (1981) factorial estimates of the energy requirements of the sow during pregnancy are too high, due, possibly, to an over-estimation of the maintenance energy component (MEm). Revised values, based on an MEm value of 439 KJ ME/kg0.75, have therefore been calculated and the present experiment was designed to test these new estimates. An additional feature of the experiment is to determine whether variations in feed intake during lactation have an effect on the utilization of energy in subsequent pregnancies for maternal body weight gain. Since the experiment will be conducted over 4 parities it will be interesting to determine whether variations in feed intake during both pregnancy and lactation influence short- and long-term sow performance.



2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 455-456
Author(s):  
Kianna E Lyte ◽  
Brou Kouakou ◽  
Jung Lee

Abstract In the United States, bioethanol is generated from corn and biodiesel from soybean oil to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Ethanol production generates DDGS, high in bypass protein and soluble carbohydrates, which can be used as a cheaper alternative replacement for corn and soybean. This experiment was conducted to evaluate voluntary feed intake, body weight gain and blood metabolites of lambs fed legume-based diets supplemented with corn and soybean meal or dried distillers grain with solubles (DDGS). Animals were individually housed in pens (1.52 mx 1.52 m) under a modified carport shed with woodchips as bedding. They were stratified into four groups (n = 9) with similar weights and standard deviation and randomly assigned to four treatments. The lambs were fed ground sericea hay (SL) or alfalfa meal (ALF) with either corn and soybean meal (control) or DDGS for 60 days. Treatments were SLC, SLDDGS, ALFC and AFLDDGS. The lambs were fed ad libitum based on their selected treatment and given water daily. At the end of the 60 days, weights and blood samples were collected. Plasma samples were analyzed for blood urea nitrogen (BUN), glucose and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA). Data were analyzed using Proc Mix Procedure of SAS. Results indicated that replacing corn with DDGS did not (P > 0.05) affect voluntary feed intake, final live weight and carcass weight. Blood NEFA and glucose were not affected by dietary treatments. BUN increased in lambs fed alfalfa with corn and soybean meal compared to animals fed either legume supplemented with DDGS. Similarly animals fed sericea have lower (P < 0.05) BUN (19 vs 23 mg/dL) when corn and soybean meal were replaced with DDGS. DDGS can be used in legume diets for growing lambs in replacement for corn and soybean meal.



2001 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. SANDERSON ◽  
M. S. DHANOA ◽  
C. THOMAS ◽  
A. B. McALLAN

Growth and efficiencies of nitrogen and energy utilization for growth by 72 young British Friesian steers (initial live weight (LW) 110 kg) offered a well preserved, formic acid-treated, perennial ryegrass silage with and without supplements of fish meal were examined. Silage was offered either alone or mixed with 50, 100 or 150 g fish meal/kg silage dry matter (DM) and each diet was offered either ad libitum or intakes were restricted to 16, 19 or 22 g dietary DM/kg LW/day. Treatments were imposed over a period of 132 days. Body component weight gains were determined by comparative slaughter.Increasing the level of either feeding or fish meal increased rates of empty body weight gain linearly (P<0·001) and curvilinearly (P<0·05) respectively. Fish-meal supplementation increased rates of ash and crude protein gain (P<0·001) but, in comparison with the curvilinear response to increasing level of feeding (P<0·001), had small linear effects on fat gain (P>0·01). Consequently, in terms of whole body composition, animals given fish meal were leaner than animals offered silage alone. Fish-meal supplementation had no significant effect on the composition of the carcass but increased the concentration of protein in the liver and gastrointestinal tract.The increase in nitrogen intake associated with feeding fish meal resulted in a reduction in the efficiency of nitrogen utilization as level of fish meal increased. Nitrogen intake required for maintenance was estimated to be 1·054 g/kg LW0·75. In spite of marked differences in the composition of the empty body-weight gain, there was no evidence to support an effect of fish meal on the efficiency of metabolizable energy (ME) utilization for growth (kf) which was estimated to be 0·346 on the basis of data scaled by LW0·75. ME intake required for maintenance (MEm) was estimated to be 0·536 and 0·502 MJ/kg LW0·75 for silage alone and the 150 g fish-meal level respectively.



1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Françoise Domingue ◽  
P. R. Wilson ◽  
D. W. Dellow ◽  
T. N. Barry

Subcutaneous melatonin implants were administered to castrated hand-reared male red deer (Cervus elaphus) during a 63 d period in spring, after which effects on voluntary feed intake (VFI), rumen pool size, rumen capacity (i.e. volume) and heart rate were measured on four occasions, evenly spread over a 12-month period, with the deer individually fed indoors on a diet of lucerne (Medicago sativa) chaff. Blood samples for hormone determinations were taken at intervals throughout the study. Day-time plasma melatonin concentration was approximately 5 pg/ml in control animals, whereas during melatonin administration it increased to 60–150 pg/ml and declined to 30 pg/ml by 142 d after the last implantation. Melatonin administration markedly depressed plasma prolactin concentration during the period of implantation, but thereafter plasma prolactin concentration rose in the treated animals during autumn and winter, whilst it declined in control animals over this period. VFI, rumen pool size and heart rate in control animals attained highest values in summer and lowest values in winter, showing a pronounced seasonal cycle. Melatonin administration depressed all these values in late spring and summer and increased all the values in autumn and winter, relative to control animals, and appeared to move the cycles by approximately 6 months. Melatonin-treated animals showed maximum values for all these measurements during winter. The castrated male deer showed little seasonal change in live weight, which was not affected by melatonin administration. The findings support the view that melatonin probably mediates the effect of daylength on digestive function in red deer. Rumen capacity remained relatively constant throughout the year, but rumen pool size as a proportion of rumen capacity increased with increasing VFI.



1969 ◽  
Vol 89 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 123-132
Author(s):  
Melvin Pagán ◽  
María de los M. Soltero ◽  
María d el P. Díaz ◽  
Carmen Santana ◽  
Abner A. Rodríguez

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the expression of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs -II and -III) in response to a 10% inclusion of caramel plant wastewater (CPWW) in weaning pig diets; the objective was to assess associations between those growthrelated proteins to feed intake (Fl) and body weight gain (BWG). Sixteen purebred Landrace piglets were randomly distributed among eight pens (a gilt and boar per pen) and assigned to one of two treatments: 0% (control) and 10% inclusion of CPWW. During four consecutive weeks, live weight and Fl were recorded. Blood samples were drawn by jugular venipuncture during the first, second, and third weeks of the experiment and serum levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-II and IGFBP-III were determined. Feed intake, BWG and feed efficiency (FE) were not affected (P > 0.05) by the addition of 10% CPWW tothe diet, nor was animal health status visibly affected. Serum IGF-I levels were higher in control animals (P < 0.05) and increased from d 14 to d 28 of the experimental period (P < 0.05). Weekly increases were observed for IGFBP- III (P < 0.05) whereas IGFBP-II circulating levels decreased from d 14 to d 28 of the post-weaning test period. Simple correlation analysis revealed that there was a positive association between circulating levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-III (r = 0.88; P < 0.0001). However, the opposite was observed between these two and IGFBP-II (r = -0.84, P < 0.0001; r = -0.67, P < 0.0025, respectively). The changes observed in circulating levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-III and IGFBP-II were associated with weekly increases in Fl and BWG that occurred during the entire experimental period (P < 0.05). 



2003 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 748-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. BRASHEARS ◽  
M. L. GALYEAN ◽  
G. H. LONERAGAN ◽  
J. E. MANN ◽  
K. KILLINGER-MANN

Fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7, the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in pens and on carcasses and hides, and cattle performance as a result of daily dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus-based direct-fed microbials (DFMs) were evaluated in a feeding trial involving 180 beef steers. Steers were evaluated for shedding of E. coli O157:H7 by an immunomagnetic separation technique on arrival at the feedlot, just before treatment with the DFMs, and every 14 days thereafter until slaughter. Composite pen fecal samples were collected every 14 days (alternating weeks with animal testing), and prevalence on hides and carcasses at slaughter was also evaluated. Feedlot performance (body weight gain and feed intake) was measured for the period during which the DFMs were fed. Gain efficiency was calculated as the ratio of weight gain to feed intake. Lactobacillus acidophilus NPC 747 decreased (P &lt; 0.01) the shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces of individual cattle during the feeding period. E. coli O157:H7 was approximately twice as likely to be detected in control animal samples as in samples from animals receiving L. acidophilus NPC 747. In addition, DFM supplementation decreased (P &lt; 0.05) the number of E. coli O157:H7–positive hide samples at harvest and the number of pens testing positive for the pathogen. Body weight gains (on a live or carcass basis) and feed intakes during the DFM supplementation period did not differ among treatments. Gain efficiencies on a live-weight basis did not differ among treatments, but carcass-based gain/feed ratios tended (P &lt; 0.06) to be better for animals receiving the two DFM treatments than for control animals. The results of this study suggest that the feeding of a Lactobacillus-based DFM to cattle will decrease, but not eliminate, fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7, as well as contamination on hides, without detrimental effects on performance.



1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 617-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Kyriazakis ◽  
J. D. Oldham

To test the proposition that sheep are able to select a diet that meets their crude protein (N × 6.25; CP) requirements, feeds L, A, B, C and H with the same energy content (11 MJ metabolizable energy/kg feed) but different CP contents (78, 109, 141, 172 and 235 g CP/kg fresh feed respectively) were formulated. In addition, feed U, which was feed L plus 21.4 g urea/kg (CP content 132 g/kg), was also made. The feeds were offered ad lib. either singly (n 4 per treatment) or as a choice between feed H and another feed (pairs LH, AH, BH, CH and UH; n 9 per feed pair) to individually penned Suffolk × Scottish mule wether lambs, over the live-weight range 25–45 kg. On the single feeds the rates of live-weight gain were 273, 326, 412, 418, 396 and 407 g/day (SE of difference (SED) 34; P < 0.01) and protein (excluding wool) gain were 27, 32, 44, 45, 41 and 39 g/d (SED 4; P < 0.001) for feeds L, A, B, C, H and U respectively. When sheep were given a choice between a feed below (L or A) and a feed above their CP requirements (H; as judged by the single-feeding treatments) the CP concentration selected was not different between the two pairs: 131 (SE 4) v. 133 (SE 4) g CP/kg feed for pairs LH and AH respectively. On the choices BH and CH (a choice between two feeds above requirements) the feed lower in CP was constantly preferred (874 (SE 33) and 910 (SE 33) g feed B and C respectively per kg total feed intake; CP selected was 157 and 178 g CP/kg respectively). However, this was not the case with the UH choice on which sheep consumed only 599 (SE 61) g feed U/kg total feed intake, resulting in a selection of a higher CP in their diet (173 g CP/kg). The live-weight gains of the animals given a choice between two feeds were 416, 387, 415, 410 and 383 g/d (SED 37) and protein gains were 45, 40, 46, 50 and 43 (SE 7) for pairs LH, AH, BH, CH and UH respectively, which were comparable with the best performance achieved on a single feed. The results suggest that sheep were able to select a diet that meets their CP requirements and avoid, at least to a certain extent, excess of protein intake. It is also possible that sheep discriminate against a property of feed U, such as an excess of urea, when this feed is paired with a feed high in CP.



1969 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Forbes ◽  
J. J. Robinson

SUMMARYTwo experiments were carried out to study the energy requirements of young fattening lambs for maintenance and production. Forty weaned lambs were used in each experiment, 20 being allocated to a high level of feeding (900 g air-dry feed per day) and 20 to a low level (540 g). The animals used in Experiment 1 were approximately 12 months of age and their mean live weight was 35·3±4·03 kg. Those in Experiment 2 were approximately seven months of age and their mean live weight was 36·7 ± 4·57 kg. Experiment 1 continued for 100 days and Experiment 2 for 47 days. Three digestibility trials, involving three animals from each feeding level, were carried out during the course of each experiment to obtain precise estimates of digestible organic matter intake (DOMI). The estimated mean DOMI required for maintenance for a 45-kg lamb was 400 g (0·88 lb) or 1500 kcal metabolizable energy per day. The estimated maintenance requirement was not affected by the age of the animal. The DOMI required for production ranged from 1·55 kg per kg live-weight gain for the younger animals to 1·71 kg for the older animals. Both these requirements were lower than those obtained by other workers and those suggested by the Agricultural Research Council (1965).



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document