Effect of using Spirulina platensis in place of vitamin mineral premix in feed on the performance of broiler

Feed of commercial broiler fortified by the external sources of vitamin and minerals which is expensive and increase the cost of feed. Blue green algae (Spirulinaplatensis) would be an alternative to those synthetic micronutrients after production in laboratory scale was studied in broiler.Spirulinaplatensiswas cultured in inorganic media contained macronutrients NaHCO3, K2HPO4, NaNO3, K2SO4, NaCl, MgSO4.7H2O, CaCl2, and FeSO4.2H2O and micronutrient solution containing H3BO4, MnCl2.4H2O, ZnSO4.7H2O, CuSO4.5H2O, MoO3, CoCl2.6H2O. Media was autoclaved and Spirulinawas cultured for 12 hours lighting with continuous aeration for 15 days to use in poultry feed. Day old broiler chick (180) was reared offering starter mash diet for 7 days. Birds were divided into 6 groups having 30 birds in each (10 per cage). Birds were offered 1. Control diet, 2. 75% premix+25% Spirulina, 3. 50% premix+50% Spirulina, 4. 25% premix+75% Spirulina, 5. 0% premix+100% Spirulina and 6. 0% premix+0% Spirulina (negative control). Spirulinawas calculated on DM basis added minerals in the media. After 21 days (28 day old) final body weight was 1039, 1070, 1044, 1065, 1117 and 893 g/bird in group 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 where higher (P<0.5) weight observed in Spirulinagroup (5). Feed intake was observed more or less similar in all groups (1483±24g). Feed conversion ratio was 1.72, 1.65, 1.69, 1.62, 1.61 and 1.99 in group 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively (P<0.5) where higher in negative control group (6) and control group (1), but was lowest in 75% Spirulinagroup (4) and highest (100%) Spirulina group (5). Ash% is also highest in 100% Spirulina group 5 (55.07) than any other group. Considering growth performance of broiler, complete replacement of vitamin-mineral premix could be possible by cultured Spirulinaalong with media in broiler diet. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):64-72

Effect of high and low energy based concentrate diet supplementation on nutrient intake and body weight changes of buffalo bull calves at Subornochar Upozila of Noakhali district in Bangladesh

This study was designed to investigate the effects of supplementation of high and low energy based concentrate diets (13.77 Vs 12.14 MJ/kg DM metabolizable energy) on the nutrient intake and body weight changes of indigenous growing buffalo bull calves in Bangladesh. The crude protein contents of both the supplemented diets were similar (about 12.50% on DM basis). In this study, a total of fifteen indigenous growing buffalo bull calves (av. Live weight 85.10±0.874 kg) were selected from different villages. It was found that the total dry matter intake was the highest (28.22±0.015 g/kg W0.75/d) in group supplemented with high energy concentrate diet along with farmer’s practices (D1), thereafter, in group supplemented with low energy concentrate diet along with farmer’s practices (D2) (27.79±0.015 g/kg W0.75/d) and the lowest (26.39±0.016 g/kg W0.75/d) in control group (D0) in which the animals were fed only farmers practices diet. Similarly, the crude protein intake was the highest in D1 group (2.86 ±0.029 g/kg W0.75/d), followed by D2 group (2.83±0.010 g/kg W0.75/d) and the lowest in farmer’s practices diet, D0 (2.08b±0.021 g/kg W0.75/d). However, the final body weight of buffalo bull calves was higher in both groups supplemented with concentrate diets (D1 and D2) compared with control (D0) and differed significantly (p<0.01) while there were no significant differences (p>0.05) found between D1 and D2 where high energy concentrate supplementation group buffalo bull claves, D1 tended to be higher than low energy concentrate supplementation group buffalo bull claves, D2. The highest final (254.6 kg) body weight was recorded in high energy concentrate supplemented diets and the lowest (144.0 kg) was found in control. Additionally, the average final body weight was increased by 153.40 kg (151.58%), 150.40 kg (152.22%) and 45.60 kg (46.34%) in D1, D2 and D0 group buffalo bull calves, respectively. On the other hand, the average final body weight of D1 and D2 was increased by 110.60 kg (76.80%) and 105.20 kg (73.05%), respectively, compared with D0. In addition, the highest (6.46) feed conversion efficiency (FCE) was recorded in D1 followed by D2 (6.64) and the lowest (12.17) was found in D0. The trends of cost benefit ratio was the same like other considering factors, the highest (1:3.60) found in D1 followed by D2 (1:3.51) and the lowest (1:1.97) in D0. Finally, considering all the parameters, it was clearly indicated that supplementation of concentrate diet along with farmers practice is essential for fast growing, higher body weight gain and more benefits by rearing buffalo bull calves at Subornochar Upozila of Noakhali district in Bangladesh. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):50-56

Physical and nutritional qualities of eggs and meats fed shrimp head meal to layer chicken

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of substitution of soybean meal of laying hens ration by shrimp head meal (SHM) on physical and nutritional quality of eggs and meats. Three hundred Hisex White laying hens were divided into five treatment groups and allocated five experimental diets included different levels of SHM. Soybean meal contents of control ration was substituted by SHM meal at the rate of 25, 50, 75 and 100%, respectively. Samples of SHM, eggs and meats were subjected to proximate analysis. Physical properties of eggs and meats were also analyzed following the standard procedures. Highest CP contents (%) of eggs were recorded to be 11.39±0.27 and 10.83±0.18 at initial and peak production periods, respectively in laying hens group fed ration substituted SBM by SHM at the rate of 25%. Significantly (p<0.001) highest value of redness (a*) of egg yolk was recorded to be 1.39 in laying hens group fed diet where SBM was completely substituted by SHM and lowest to be -3.11 in control group (no substitution) at initial production stage (18th to 20th week). Significantly (p=0.05) highest CP (%) contents of meats was found to be 19.37±0.36 in laying hens fed diets substituted SBM at the rate of 75% by SHM and lowest in complete substituted group. It can be concluded that substitution of soybean meal of laying hens ration at the rate of 25% by SHM is suitable for better egg and meat quality. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):12-21

Forage growth, biomass yield and nutrient content of two different hybrid Napier cultivars grown in Bangladesh

A 2×3 factorial experiment was conducted to compare two cultivars; Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute developed Napier hybrid-3 (BN-3) (Pennisetum purpureum) and Pakchong-1 (Pennisetum purpureum× P. glaucum) in terms of forage growth, biomass yield, and nutritional quality. Cultivars were cultivated in 03 blocks with 03 replicates and were harvested at 03 cutting periods (40, 50, and 60 days). Plot sizes for each cultivar were 25 m2 (5m × 5m), and in every plot, twenty-five stem cuttings with two healthy nodes per cutting were planted with (1×1) m spacing. The effects of cultivar and cutting period were significant on plant height, leaves per tiller, leaf DM production, and leaf stem ratio (LSR). Highest plant height (P<0.01) and leaves per tiller (P<0.05) were consistently produced by BN-3, while Pakchong-1 produced the highest amount of CP (P<0.05), LSR (P<0.05), tiller diameter (P<0.01) and diameter of the lowest node (P<0.01). Based on the %DM, DM yield, and CP yield, BN-3 performed better cutting at 50 days after the first plantation, but Pakchong-1 performed better cutting at 60 days after the first plantation. From the forage standpoint, Pakchong-1 seems to have little advantages over BN-3 because of its higher DM, LSR, and CP production. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):43-49

Dietary supplementation of medicinal herbs with total mixed ration to mitigate enteric methane emission in sheep

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of pineapple wastes (Ananas comosus), garlic leaves (Allium sativum), moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera) and their combination on growth, plasma metabolites, meat characteristics and enteric methane emission in sheep. A total of 15 sheep (initial BW: 8.3±0.2 kg; age: ~ 1 year; non-descript indigenous to Bangladesh) were randomly assigned to one of five dietary treatments with three sheep per treatment in a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments were: (1) CL-diet: a total mixed ration (TMR) pellet based on roadside grass and concentrates with a CP–16.72% and ME–10.7 MJ/kg; (2) PW-diet: CL-diet + 10g DM of pineapple waste (peels, cores, tops, and leaves)/day; (3) GL-diet: CL-diet + 10g DM of garlic leaves/day; (4) ML-diet: CL-diet + 10g DM of moringa leaves /day; (5) HM-diet: CL-diet + 10g DM of herbal mixture (3g pineapples wastes + 3g garlic leaves + 4g moringa leaves)/day. Weekly live weight gain and plasma metabolites did not show any significant variation among the treatments. Compared to the CL-diet group, the herbal supplemented group had 18–34% lower abdominal fat content, and the lowest value was found in the GL-diet group. Furthermore, the methane emission (g/day/sheep) was reduced by 5–13% in herb supplemented groups compared to the CL-diet group. Additionally, the lamb fed GL-diet emitted the lowest enteric methane (21.26 vs 24.07 g/kg DMI) compared to other experimental groups. Overall, garlic and moringa leaves could be added to TMR to minimize fat accumulation and enteric methane emission from sheep. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):28-35

Effect of adding different types of flour on the quality of low fat beef sausage

The experiment was conducted to find out the effect of different types of flour on the sensory, physicochemical, biochemical and microbiological properties of beef sausages. For this purpose, sausages were prepared into four different groups. They were treated control; beef sausage without flour, beef with 10% rice flour, beef with 10% wheat flour and beef with 10% corn flour. All parameters were analyzed at 0, 15th and 30th days of storage time. The proximate compositions of different sausage batters are analyzed and highly significant differences were found in dry matter and crude protein (%) content and significant differences were found in cooking loss (%), pH (%) and EE (%) content. While analyzing the different types of sausages, highly significant differences were found in pH, DM (%), CP (%) and EE (%) content and significant differences in Ash (%) content. Crude protein (%) and DM (%) increased, while Ash (%) and EE (%) decreased with increase of storage time. Significantly higher DM (%) and CP (%) were found in beef sausage without any flour, no significant differences were found among the flour groups in DM (%) and CP (%) content. The storage period had significant effect on different biochemical (FFA, POV and TBARS value) and microbial (TVC, TCC and TYMC) test. In all cases the values were increased with increase of storage time. The surface color (CIE L*, a*, b*) of sausages of different treatments at different storage period were measured. No significant differences in L* value were found among beef sausages and storage time. On the other hand, different types of sausages had a significant effect on a* and b* values. Significantly higher a* value was found in beef sausage with 10% corn flour and b* value in beef sausage without any flour (Control). Storage period had no effect on b* values, but effect on a* values. Significantly lower a* value was found at 0 day of storage time. In sensory analysis, highly significant differences were found in flavor, off-flavor, juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability among four types of sausages but no significant found in color. All the parameters were significantly lower in control sausage except off-flavour, which was significantly higher in control sausage. No significant differences were found in sensory parameters among the sausages manufactured from different types of flour. From this experiment, it might be concluded that addition of different types of flour increases the overall acceptability of beef sausage. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):1-11

Growth and blood parameters of soybean based milk replacer fed and naturally suckled Black Bengal kids

The present study was aimed to determine growth and blood parameters of soybean based milk replacer fed kids and naturally suckled counterparts in three villages of Mymensingh Sadar, Bangladesh. Twelve Black Bengal kids were allocated into two treatment groups; one group (n=6) was reared with milk replacer while the other (as control; n=6) was reared naturally keeping with their dam. Live weight and body measurement of kids were recorded weekly. Blood samples were collected from 8 weeks old kids to determine their red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), haemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV) and differential leukocyte count (DLC). The average initial live weight of the suckled and replacer fed kids did not show significant difference (p<0.05). The average final live weight was significantly (p<0.05) higher in artificially fed males (7.7±0.18 kg) than naturally suckled male (6.89±0.24 kg) kids. Body length, wither height and heart girth were significantly (p<0.05) higher in milk replacer fed male kids than naturally suckled counterparts. RBC count was significantly (p<0.05) higher in artificially fed group than naturally suckled kids. Hb, PCV and DLC did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between treatment groups. In conclusion, feeding with soybean based milk replacer enhanced growth of kids comparing naturally reared counterparts. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):22-27

Effect of feeding buttermilk coated diets on growth, carcass characteristics and production cost of crossbred chicken

Growth performance, carcass characteristics and production costs associated with feeding crossbred indigenous chicken on traditional buttermilk coated diets were evaluated. Three batches of day-old Indigenous x Kuroiler crossbred chicks were raised on a commercial diet for one month. At one month, chicken in each of the three batches were weighed and randomly divided into 3 equal groups. Each group comprised of 20 birds. Chicken in each group were either fed coated (dry buttermilk coated maize-bran), combined (buttermilk coated maize bran + commercial diet) or a commercial (control) diet. Average final live weight and feed intake were similar across the three dietary treatments (P>0.05). Feed to gain ratio significantly varied (P<0.05) across dietary treatments with buttermilk coated diets having the highest feed to gain ratio (7.27) compared to combined (4.38) and commercial (3.88) diets. Coated and combined diets yielded similar dressing percentage of 60.2 and 62 compared to 65% obtained with commercial diets. Carcass and organ yield was similar (P>0.05) across dietary treatments. On a 5 point hedonic scale, chicken meat produced using coated diets was more acceptable (2.0), compared to combined (2.1) and commercial (3.1) diets (P<0.05). The highest gross margins accrued from feeding combined and commercial diets. Over-all, results provide evidence of the potential of the combined diet to attain similar growth performance, carcass yield and gross margins as the commercial diet at lower cost. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):57-63

Effect of citric acid in low nutrient diet on growth and bone mineral metabolism of broiler

The study was conducted to observe the performance of broiler in low level of dietary nutrients but using citric acid (CA) as feed additive. A total of 240 day old straight run broiler chicks (COBB 500) were randomly distributed into eight groups, with three replicate cages having 10 birds in each. Control diet (Group 1) was formulated with corn-soybean based ingredients contained 22.7% CP and 3213 kcal ME/kg. Other dietary Groups 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 were control+0.5% CA, control+4% low protein and energy, control+4% low protein and energy with 0.5% CA, control+8% low protein and energy, control+8% low protein and energy with 0.5% CA, control+12% low protein and energy and 12% low protein and energy with 0.5% CA, respectively. At the age of 31 days 8% lowering the protein and energy could compensate by the addition of citric acid (group 6). There was no significant difference of total feed intake among the groups. As live weight 8% lowering the protein and energy could compensate the feed efficiency when addition of CA. Tibia ash was determined in first four groups that were 44.2, 49.5, 46.8 and 47.1% in group 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The mortality was 0.0% during the whole experimental period. The cost of production (BDT/kg broiler) was lowest in group 8, that means lowering protein and energy reduces feed cost. It may be concluded that diets containing low protein and energy up to 8% but addition of 0.5% citric acid would compensate the performance of broiler, but 12% reduction of energy and nutrients is cost effective. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2021. 50 (1):36-42

Reducing dairy data inconsistency through Regional Modeling Approach (RMA): a case from North-Western part of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the transformation of dairy farming from livelihood-oriented to enterprise-driven farming system might require deeper understanding on the regional differences in terms of regional potential for further dairy development. This, however, entails detailed data on dairy farm at regional level. Since the data are relatively very scarce in one hand and on the other hand, even available, are contradicting among various sources in terms of data accuracy and precision, the application of the regional modeling on the data and extrapolates to the national data and vice-versa is one of the ways to identify the possible options to improve the data availability and quality. Considering this, the current study was undertaken to assess the data inconsistency by comparing the dairy herd structure and its milk production at regional level and propose a validation tool to arrive at the national data by using the regional findings. The International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) Regional Modeling Approach (RMA) along with the locally developed Integrated Dairy Research Network (IDRN) farm model was used. The primary data was collected from three divisions (9 districts) from the North-Western part of the country. The results revealed that proportion of household farm dominates over family and business farm while considering the total dairy cow as unit for defining the farm type. The share of the cross bred cows to the local cows is 74.6% and 24.4%, respectively. However, the proportion of lactating cows over dry cows and heifer seems to be higher in local cows (48.8%) than cross breed cows (34.2%). The average milk production for all regions is 4.49 lit/day/cow while that for cross breed is 6.23 lit and local 1.71 lit/day/cow. Using regional model and its coefficient on average milk production, herd composition, proportion of lactating cows on total milk production of DLS and IDRN revealed that IDRN new model estimates 36.5% lower milk than the DLS in 2019 and 33.5% lower in 2018. The IDRN version 1.0 and 2.0 model difference was found to 15.4% and 18.3% lower for 2018 and 2019, respectively. The model setup, calibration and validation are time-demanding and challenging tasks for these large set of data, given the scale intensive data requirements, and the need to ensure the reliability data from multiple regions. This study concludes that regional modeling is quite useful for validating the regional share of the milk production and national milk production. However, this study would recommend for using standardized for data collection, validation and thus conducting further study on the other regions and finally including all regions of the country. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2020. 49 (2): 128-141