Fibrolytic enzymes increase fiber digestibility and growth rate of steers fed dry forages

1995 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Beauchemin ◽  
L. M. Rode ◽  
V. J. H. Sewalt

Seventy-two steers (289 kg) were offered ad libitum cubed alfalfa hay, cubed timothy hay, or barley silage supplemented with incremental levels of xylanase (IU) and cellulase (FPU), combined in a ratio of 1 IU:0.04 FPU. For alfalfa hay, low and moderate levels (900 to 4733 IU kg−1 DM) increased weight gain by up to 30% (P < 0.10), whereas, for timothy hay, the highest level (12 000 IU kg−1 DM) improved gain (P < 0.10) by 36%. No response to enzymes was observed for barley silage. Fibrolytic enzymes improve weight gain of cattle but optimal enzyme levels depend upon the type of forage. Key words: Beef cattle, forages, enzymes, cellulase, xylanase, carbohydrases

1967 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Owen ◽  
G. M. Davies

1. In a 2×3×3 factorial experiment a total of seventy-two female or castrated pure Friesian, Charolais × Friesian and Welsh Black × Friesian cattle were fed individually and ad libitum on three diets from 200 lb to slaughter at 800 or 900 lb, depending on sex. The diets were ground barley (87%) and protein-mineral-vitamin supplement (13%) given with or without 1 lb of hay per animal daily, or ground maize (87%) and supplement (13%) given with 1 lb of hay daily.2. The three breed-types differed significantly in growth rate and feed conversion efficiency. Gaining at 2·66 lb/day and converting 4·56 lb of meal into 1 lb live-weight gain, the Charolais crosses grew 7·7 % faster than pure Friesians and consumed 14·1% less meal per unit gain. Welsh Black crosses made 9·3% less rapid gains and required 7·7 % more meal per unit gain than pure Friesians. The disparity between the three breedtypes increased with increasing liveweight.


1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Van Lunen ◽  
H. Schulze

A trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementing wheat- and corn-based diets with xylanase on growth performance and FCR of pigs from 10 to 18 wk of age. Seventy-tow castrated male pigs were assigned to pens of two and in a randomized block design to six dietary treatments consisting of diets containing 60% wheat, 40% wheat and 20% corn, and 20% wheat and 40% corn with and without supplementation with xylanase. Feed and water were available ad libitum. Xylanase supplementation improved growth rate and FCR by 9.2 and 5.3%, respectively, regardless of level of wheat and corn inclusion. Key words: Pig, growth, feed enzyme, Trichoderma longibrachiatum xylanase, wheat, corn


1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. AMAL ◽  
G. H. CROW

Nine years (1976–1984) of performance data from the Manitoba Bull Testing Station, Douglas were used to investigate herd of origin effects on the 140-d growth performance of bulls. Two data sets were analyzed: the Angus and Hereford (AH) data set contained records on 1649 bulls; the Charolais and Simmental (CS) data set contained records on 1786 bulls. The mixed model for analysis of weight, gain and backfat data included year-breed as a categorical fixed effect, age of bull as a fixed covariate, and herd and sire as random effects in a hierarchial classification. Herd, sire and error components of variance were estimated for weights and gains of bulls during the test as well as for backfat which was measured at the end of the test. At the start of the test 39 and 33% of the variation among bull weights was due to herd of origin effects for the AH and CS data sets, respectively. This proportion dropped gradually to 30 and 22% at the 112-d weighing for the AH and CS data sets, respectively, and remained at these levels for the 140-d weights. For the cumulative 140-d gain on test only 15 and 16% of the total variation were attributed to herds for the AH and CS data sets, respectively. For periodic gains (gains made between two adjacent weighings, usually 28-d intervals), herd of origin was a major source of variation for the 28-d pretest adjustment period (45 and 34% for the AH and CS data sets, respectively), but was of minor importance in subsequent periods. For backfat, herd of origin was a significant though small source of variation. The nature of the herd of origin variation (genetic or environmental) could not be discerned from this analysis though it was evident that a portion of the herd of origin variation was temporary environmental in nature since its magnitude decreased as the test progressed. Assuming that a portion of the herd of origin variation was permanent environmental in nature for both weight and gain and given that herd of origin variation was lower for gain than for weight it is recommended to emphasize test gain as opposed to weight in the comparison of bull performance. Key words: Beef cattle, test station, herd of origin, heritability, growth, backfat


1983 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Thomas ◽  
R. M. Tetlow ◽  
B. G. Gibbs ◽  
Margaret Gill

ABSTRACT1. The primary growth of perennial ryegrass was cut between 7 and 9 June and ensiled with formic acid at 2·5 1/t. The regrowth was cut on 24 July; part was dried at high temperature (dried grass), the remainder was left to dry in the field (hay). The dried grass (DG) and part of the hay were ground and pelleted, the hay being pelleted alone (PH) or with the addition of formaldehyde at 20 g/kg crude protein (PHF). The remainder of the hay was offered in the chopped form (CH). The four supplements (CH, PH, PHF, DG) were offered at two levels, 6·5 (L) and 130 (H) g dry matter per kg live weight to 54 British Friesian steers (initial live weight, 110 kg) receiving the silage ad libitum.2. The silage had a high pH and a high proportion of the total nitrogen was in the form of ammonia, indicating poor fermentation. The solubility of nitrogen in the supplements was highest (262 g/kg total nitrogen) in CH, progressively less in PH and PHF and lowest (122 g/kg total nitrogen) in DG.3. Total dry-matter intake was highest with DG at the higher level of inclusion. Dry-matter intake was significantly higher for PH and PHF than for CH (P < 0·001). However, intake of digestible energy did not differ between hays. Live-weight gain was increased from a low level of 0·24 kg/day (silage alone) by all supplements, but this effect was greater with DG than with the hays (P < 0·001). Level of supplementation increased live-weight gain from 0·54 to 0·74 kg/day.4. Supplements of dried grass gave higher live-weight gains than did hay made from the same sward. However, the results indicate that supplementation of badly preserved silage with grass hay of good quality can produce acceptable levels of performance of up to 0·70 kg/day in 4-month-old steers. Processing of the hay had little effect on animal performance.


1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. LAWRENCE ◽  
E. H. JASTER ◽  
L. WISCHOVER ◽  
K. J. MOORE ◽  
H. F. HINTZ

Alfalfa hay treated with a commercial preservative containing 80% propionic and 20% acetic acid was evaluated as a feed for horses. In a two-choice preference test, horses preferred untreated hay (P < 0.05). When yearlings were fed either treated or untreated hay for 1 mo, there was no difference in feed consumption or weight gain indicating that when given no choice, horses find hay treated with propionic and acetic acid acceptable. Key words: Alfalfa, organic acid preservative, horse


2002 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 587-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank R. Dunshea ◽  
Chung S. Chung ◽  
Phil C. Owens ◽  
John F. Ballard ◽  
Paul E. Walton

Exogenous insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I has been shown to increase growth rate in neonatal pigs while an analogue of IGF-I, long arginine (LR3) IGF-I, has been shown to be more potent than IGF-I in the rat. Therefore, two studies were conducted to determine whether IGF-I and LR3IGF-I increase growth in the artificially-reared neonatal pig. Expt 1 involved forty-two (2 kg initial weight) pigs infused with either control, IGF-I (2, 4 or 8 μg/h) or LR3IGF-I (2, 4 or 8 μg/h) infusions for 8 d. Pigs were weighed and then offered 1·7 MJ (gross energy) milk replacer/kg0·75 per d. Expt 2 involved eighteen pigs (2 kg initial weight) treated with control saline, IGF-I (8 μg/h) or LR3IGF-I (8 μg/h) infusions. After 9 d an additional pump was inserted to increase the infusion rates of each of the growth factors (16 μg/h) for a further 9 d. Cows' milk was provided ad libitum. In Expt 1 there was no overall effect of growth factors on daily weight gain or slaughter weight. However, milk intake was greater in pigs infused with growth factors (909 v. 867 g/d, P=0·027), with an apparently greater milk intake by the pigs infused with IGF-I compared with LR3IGF-I (920 v. 898 g/d, P=0·12). Infusion of LR3IGF-I decreased plasma IGF-I concentrations, but had no effect on plasma IGF-II concentrations. In Expt 2, neither IGF-I nor LR3IGF-I infusion had any effect upon daily weight gain over the first 9 d of the study. However, over the second 9 d of the study, daily weight gain was increased in LR3IGF-I-infused pigs (457 v. 386 g/d, P<0·01), but not in pigs infused with IGF-I (413 v. 386 g/d, P=0·15). Milk intake was not different during the first 9 d of the study but was significantly greater in pigs infused with growth factors over the second half of the study (3407 v. 2905 g/d, P<0·01). Plasma IGF-binding protein-3 concentrations were highly correlated (R=0·85) with average daily gain over the 3 d preceding blood sampling. In conclusion, exogenous IGF-I and particularly LR3IGF-I can increase growth rate and milk intake in artificially-reared pigs fed ad libitum but not in limit-fed piglets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 219-219
Author(s):  
Tao Ran ◽  
A M Saleem ◽  
Karen Beauchemin ◽  
G Penner ◽  
Wenzhu Yang

Abstract The objective was to investigate the effects of processing index (PI, weight after processing/weight before processing × 100) of barley grain and dietary undegradable fiber (uNDF, 240 h of incubation in rumen) concentration on chewing behavior (3 days, video recording) and feed sorting of finishing beef cattle. Six ruminally cannulated beef heifers (BW=715 kg) were used in a 6 × 6 Latin square design with 3 PI (65, 75 and 85%; fine, medium, coarse, respectively) × 2 uNDF concentrations (low and high; 4.6 vs. 5.6% of DM) factorial arrangement. Heifers were fed ad libitum a TMR consisting of 10% barley silage (low uNDF) or 5% silage and 5% chopped straw (high uNDF), 87% dry-rolled barley grain, and 3% vitamin and mineral supplement. An interaction of PI with uNDF occurred (P &lt; 0.01) for DM intake, ruminating and total chewing time. Intake of DM (kg/d) did not differ (12.1) between low and high uNDF diets with 65 or 75% PI, whereas it was greater (P &lt; 0.05) for high (12.7) than low (12.1) uNDF diets with 85% PI. Eating time (min/d) was not affected by PI but eating time (106 vs. 95 min/d; P = 0.03) and eating index (9.3 vs. 8.0 min/kg DM; P = 0.02) were greater with high than low uNDF diets. Ruminating (305 vs. 258 min/d) and total chewing (406 vs. 357 min/d) times were greater (P &lt; 0.05) with high than low uNDF at 65% PI, with no effect of uNDF at 75 and 85% PI. Moreover, no interaction between PI and uNDF and no effect of PI on sorting index was observed. Heifers fed high vs. low uNDF diets sorted (P &lt; 0.01) against long particles (&gt;19 mm). These results suggest that when cattle are fed finely processed barley, increasing uNDF concentration of the diet may promote chewing and benefit rumen health.


1983 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Woolliams ◽  
G. Wiener

ABSTRACTLambs, 8 weeks of age, the offspring of sires of the Scottish Blackface, East Friesland, Finnish Landrace, Suffolk and Texel breeds mated to Scottish Blackface females as a common maternal breed were fed ad libitum on a concentrate containing barley and fish meal for 14 weeks. Live weight and food intake were measured at intervals of 2 weeks.Live-weight gain varied between sire breeds, Suffolk crosses having the greatest growth rate and the Blackface lambs the least, but there were no significant differences in their food conversion ratios. Food intakes were compared with those predicted by two methods. When the only criteria for prediction were live weight and the metabolizability of the diet the prediction was poor, whereas very accurate agreement was found when the criteria for prediction included consideration of the changes in energy efficiency with food intake and with maturity.


2001 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Norby ◽  
B. E. Straw ◽  
P. C. Bartlett ◽  
K. Meyers

Twelve lactating sows were given two doses of 14 mg of dexamethasone and 12 controls were given two doses (7.0 mL) of physiological saline. During the treatment period, total litter weight gain in litters of dexamethasone-treated sows was significantly less (P = 0.02) than weight gain of control litters. Key words: Swine, glucocorticoids, growth rate


1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 691-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. BUSH ◽  
J. W. G. NICHOLSON

Two experiments were conducted to measure the effects of weaning procedure and duration of milk feeding on calf performance and overall milk consumption. In exp. 1, compared with calves weaned when consuming 500 g d−1 of starter (control), those weaned when intake reached 1000 gd−1 (delayed) consumed 2.5 times as much milk and those fed gradually diminishing milk levels until weaned at 1500 g d−1 of starter intake (gradual) consumed about 1.5 times as much milk. Both the control and delayed groups experienced a growth setback of up to 8 d at weaning. There was no change in growth rate for the gradual weaning group. In exp. 2, the calves were gradually weaned over 7 d commencing at 28 d of age and were fed either supplemental milk, wet fishmeal, dry fishmeal or no protein supplement (control) for an additional 140 d. Calves fed milk grew fastest and had the best feed:gain ratio (P < 0.01). Those fed fishmeal grew faster than the controls and had better feed:gain ratios (P < 0.01). There was no difference between the wet and dry fishmeal suggesting that any increased rumen by-pass through the esophageal groove reflex did not result in improved animal gain. The potential value to the producer of feeding over quota milk to calves marketed at 168 d was calculated to be $15.22 hL−1 on the basis of dry feed replaced and increased weight gain by the milk-fed calves. Key words: Calves, milk, weaning, by-pass protein, fishmeal


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