• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.812-818
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• 2009

This study evaluated the effects of live yeast and yeast cell-wall mannan-oligosaccharide supplementation onperformance and nutrient digestibility during early lactation in cows fed a diet based on a mixture of corn silage and alfalfa hay as forage sources. Eight multiparous Holstein dairy cows (average days in milk, 27${\pm}$6) were used in a replicated 4${\times}$4 Latin square design. Diets contained 45% forage and 55% concentrate on a dry matter (DM) basis and treatments were: i) basal diet without additive (Control), ii) basal diet with 32 g/d of mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), iii) basal diet with $1.2{\times}10^{10}$ colony forming units per day (cfu/d) of live yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM 1-1077; SC), and iv) basal diet with a mixture of MOS (32 g/d) and SC ($1.2{\times}10^{10}$ cfu/d; MOS+SC). Treatments had no effect (p>0.05) on DM intake and yields of milk, 3.5% fat-(FCM) and energy-corrected milk (ECM), and on milk fat percentage, body condition score and blood metabolites. Compared with the Control, only supplementation of SC resulted in numerically higher yields of FCM (41.9 vs. 40.1 kg/d) and ECM (41.8 vs. 40.3 kg/d), and milk fat percentage (3.64 vs. 3.43%). While the MOS diet had no effects on performance compared to the Control, the combination treatment MOS+SC increased milk protein percentage (p<0.05). Also, the MOS supplementation, both alone or in combination with SC, numerically increased milk fat percentage. The SC supplementation increased apparent digestibility of DM and crude protein while the MOS supplementation did not affect digestibility. Concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ruminal pH were similar across treatments. Overall results indicated that supplementation of MOS produced variable and inconsistent effects on rumen metabolism and performance, whereas SC supplementation improved nutrient digestibility and numerically increased FCM and ECM yields, which could not be enhanced by the combined supplementation of MOS+SC. According to our experimental condition, there was no effect of MOS alone or in combination with SC on dairy cow performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1748-1758
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• 2012

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of chemical composition of wheat shorts and red dog on energy and amino acid digestibility in growing pigs and to establish prediction models to estimate their digestible (DE) and metabolizable (ME) energy content and as well as their standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acid content. For Exp. 1, sixteen diets were fed to thirty-two growing pigs according to a completely randomized design during three successive periods. The basal diet was based on corn and soybean meal while the other fifteen diets contained 28.8% wheat shorts (N = 7) or red dog (N = 8), added at the expense of corn and soybean meal. Over the three periods, each diet was fed to six pigs with each diet being fed to two pigs during each period. The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy in wheat shorts and red dog averaged 75.1 and 87.9%. The DE values of wheat shorts and red dog averaged 13.8 MJ/kg (range 13.1 to 15.0 MJ/kg) and 15.1 MJ/kg (range 13.3 to 16.6 MJ/kg) of dry matter, respectively. For Exp. 2, twelve growing pigs were allotted to two $6{\times}6$ Latin Square Designs with six periods. Ten of the diets were formulated based on 60% wheat shorts or red dog and the remaining two diets were nitrogen-free diets based on cornstarch and sucrose. Chromic oxide (0.3%) was used as an indigestible marker in all diets. There were no differences (p>0.05) in SID values for the amino acids in wheat shorts and red dog except for lysine and methionine. Apparent ileal digestibility (AID) and SID values for lysine in different sources of wheat shorts or red dog, which averaged 78.1 and 87.8%, showed more variation than either methionine or tryptophan. A stepwise regression was performed to establish DE, ME and amino acid digestibility prediction models. Data indicated that fiber content and amino acid concentrations were good indicators to predict energy values and amino acid digestibility, respectively. The present study confirms the large variation in the energy content and amino acid digestibility in wheat shorts and red dog, and describes the factors that influence this variation and presents equations based on chemical composition that could probably be used to predict the DE and ME values as well as the amino acid digestibility of wheat shorts and red dog.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.952-960
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of carbohydrate source and cottonseed meal level in the concentrate on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation and microbial protein synthesis in swamp buffaloes. Four, 4-yr old rumen fistulated swamp buffaloes were randomly assigned to receive four dietary treatments according to a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Factor A was carbohydrate source; cassava chip (CC) and CC+rice bran at a ratio 3:1 (CR3:1), and factor B was level of cottonseed meal (CM); 109 g CP/kg (LCM) and 328 g CP/kg (HCM) in isonitrogenous diets (490 g CP/kg). Buffaloes received urea-treated rice straw ad libitum and supplemented with 5 g concentrate/kg BW. It was found that carbohydrate source did not affect feed intake, nutrient intake, digested nutrients, nutrient digestibility, ammonia nitrogen concentration, fungi and bacterial populations, or microbial protein synthesis (p>0.05). Ruminal pH at 6 h after feeding and the population of protozoa at 4 h after feeding were higher when buffalo were fed with CC than in the CR3:1 treatment (p<0.05). Buffalo fed with HCM had a lower roughage intake, nutrient intake, population of total viable and cellulolytic bacteria and microbial nitrogen supply than the LCM fed group (p<0.05). However, nutrient digestibility, ruminal pH, ammonia concentration, population of protozoa and fungi, and efficiency of microbial protein synthesis were not affected by cottonseed meal levels (p>0.05). Based on this experiment, concentrate with a low level of cottonseed meal could be fed with cassava chips as an energy source in swamp buffalo receiving rice straw.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2013

Eight male cattle of the Local Yellow breed with an average live weight of 121 kg and an average age of 18 months were used to evaluate the effects of different levels of sun-dried cassava (Manihot esculenta) foliage supplementation on mineral metabolism in growing cattle fed rice straw and para grass as basal diet. Rice straw ad libitum and para grass (Brachiaria mutica) at 1% DM of BW comprised the basal diet. The study was arranged as a $4{\times}4$ double Latin square design, with cassava foliage contributing 0, 0.8, 1.6 or 2.4 g CP/kg BW. The cassava foliage intake was lower than the planned levels. DM consumption was significantly affected by cassava foliage supplementation, with the largest intake observed at the two highest levels of cassava foliage supplementation. Rice straw intake showed the opposite pattern, with lower intake at higher cassava foliage supplementation. No refusals occurred for para grass in any of the treatments. Ca, P, Mg, K, S and Mn intake increased significantly with increasing intake of cassava foliage, but Na intake was not affected by treatment. Faecal excretion of Ca, Mg, S and Mn increased significantly with increasing cassava foliage intake. There were no differences between P, K and Na excretion in faeces. There was a significant diet effect on Mg, S and Mn digestibility. Mg and Mn digestibility increased with increasing cassava foliage supplementation, while S digestibility decreased. Ca, P, K and Na digestibility was not affected by diet. There was a significant effect of treatment on P retention, with the highest value observed for supplementation with 1.6 g CP/kg BW cassava foliage. Ca and Mg showed similar trends, with the highest retention again for supplementation with 1.6 g CP/kg BW cassava foliage. There were weak but significant positive correlations between nitrogen retention and the macro minerals Ca, P and Mg. Furthermore, retention of all these minerals was positively correlated. Mineral losses in urine were not affected by dietary treatment with the exception of P excretion, which was affected by treatment. In conclusion, cassava foliage is a good Ca source which compensates for the low Ca content in rice straw and para grass, but P deficiency appears to be exaggerated in cattle with higher cassava intake. The results suggest that under these conditions growing cattle on a high cassava intake would benefit from P and S supplementation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.961-970
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• 2013

Eight multiparous Holstein cows ($569{\pm}47$ kg of BW; $84{\pm}17$ DIM) were used to evaluate the effects of different levels of coarsely ground wheat (CGW) as replacements for ground corn (GC) in diets on feed intake and digestion, ruminal fermentation, lactation performance, and plasma metabolites profiles in dairy cows. The cows were settled in a replicated $4{\times}4$ Latin square design with 3-wk treatment periods; four cows in one of the replicates were fitted with rumen cannulas. The four diets contained 0, 9.6, 19.2, and 28.8% CGW and 27.9, 19.2, 9.6, and 0% GC on dry matter (DM) basis, respectively. Increasing dietary levels of CGW, daily DM intake tended to increase quadratically (p = 0.07); however, apparent digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were significantly decreased (p<0.01) in cows fed the 28.8% CGW diets. Ruminal pH remained in the normal physiological range for all dietary treatments at all times, except for the 28.8% CGW diets at 6 h after feeding; moreover, increasing dietary levels of CGW, the daily mean ruminal pH decreased linearly (p = 0.01). Increasing the dietary levels of CGW resulted in a linear increase in ruminal propionate (p<0.01) and ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3$-N) (p = 0.06) concentration, while ruminal acetate: propionate decreased linearly (p = 0.03) in cows fed the 28.8% CGW diets. Milk production was not affected by diets; however, percentage and yield of milk fat decreased linearly (p = 0.02) when the level of CGW was increased. With increasing levels of dietary CGW, concentrations of plasma beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) (p = 0.07) and cholesterol (p<0.01) decreased linearly, whereas plasma glucose (p = 0.08), insulin (p = 0.02) and urea nitrogen (p = 0.02) increased linearly at 6 h after the morning feeding. Our results indicate that CGW is a suitable substitute for GC in the diets of dairy cows and that it may be included up to a level of 19.2% of DM without adverse effects on feed intake and digestion, ruminal fermentation, lactation performance, and plasma metabolites if the cows are fed fiber-sufficient diets.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2004

An experiment was conducted to evaluate condensed molasses solubles(CMS, a by-product from monosodium glutamate production) as a source of nitrogen for ruminant with particular reference to its effects on microbial protein synthesis. Four non-lactating dairy cows fitted with rumen cannulas were used in a 4 ${\times}$ 4 Latin square with 14-day periods. The four treatments were (1) basal diet consisting of barley straw ad libitum and 3 kg/d of rolled barley, (2) basal diet plus 200 gld molasses and 300 g/d water, (3) basal diet plus 200 g/d molasses, 100 g/d CMS and 200 g/d water, (4) basal diet plus 200 g/d molasses, 200 g/d CMS and 100 g/d water. Ruminal pH remained at high levels and showed little variation during the day between treatments. The concentration of total and individual VFA in the rumen was similar between treatments. There was no difference in the concentration of ammonia in the rumen between treatments, although the intake of nitrogen in molassesl CMS mixture treatments was higher than that of control and molasses treatment. But there was a suggestion of an increased synthesis of microbial protein with the higher level of inclusion of CMS when the allantoin/creatinine ratio was used as an index of microbial protein production(P <0.10).

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.485-494
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• 2020

Limiting amino acids (AAs) for milk production in dairy cows fed on a concentrate diet of corn grain and soybean meal was evaluated in this study. Four lactating and multiparous Holstein cows (in third or fourth parities, with an average body weight of 633 ± 49.2 kg), 8 to 9 weeks into their lactation period, were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The experiment comprised four dietary treatments: (1) no intravenous infusion (control); (2) control plus intravenous infusion of an AA mixture of 6 g/d methionine, 19.1 g/d lysine, 13.8 g/d isoleucine, and 15.4 g/d valine (4AA); (3) control plus intravenous infusion of the AA mixture without methionine (no-Met); and (4) control plus intravenous infusion of the AA mixture without lysine (no-Lys). All animals were fed on a controlled diet (1 kg/d alfalfa hay, 10 kg/d silage, 14 kg/d concentrate mixture, ad libitum timothy hay). The AA composition of the diet and blood were determined using an automatic AA analyzer. Milk composition (protein, fat, lactose, urea nitrogen, and somatic cell counts) was determined using a MilkoScan. The results showed that feed intake for milk production did not differ from that of intravenous infusion using a limiting AA mixture. The 4AA treatment numerically had the highest milk yield (32.4 kg/d), although there was no difference when compared with the control (31.2 kg/d), no-Met (31.3 kg/d), and no-Lys (31.7 kg/d) treatments. The concentration of AAs in blood plasma of cows in all treatments, mainly isoleucine and valine, increased significantly compared with that of control. The no-Met treatment increased (p < 0.05) the concentration of lysine in the blood relative to the control and no-Lys treatments, whereas the no-Lys treatment increased (p < 0.05) the concentration of methionine relative to the control and no-Met treatments. In conclusion, milk production increased when feeding 10 g/d methionine to the cows, together with their concentrate diet of corn grain and soybean meal.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1496-1502
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• 2010

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of diet complexity and fermented soy protein on growth performance and amino acid digestibility. In Exp. 1, a total of 120 crossbred weanling pigs ($5.68{\pm}0.80\;kg$ BW) were randomly allocated into 4 treatments. Each treatment had 6 replicate pens comprising 5 pigs in each replicate. Experimental diets consisted of simple (soybean meal as protein source) and complex (soybean meal, rice protein concentrate, potato protein concentrate and fish meal as protein sources) diets; each diet contained 0 or 5% fermented soy protein (FSP), respectively. Dietary treatments included: i) simple diet; ii) simple diet with 5% FSP; iii) complex diet; iv) complex diet with 5% FSP. Pigs were provided each experimental diet for 20 d (phase 1) and then fed the same common diet for 10 d (phase 2). During days 0-10, pigs fed FSP diets had greater ADG than those fed non-FSP diets (p<0.05). G/F in FSP treatments was significantly higher than that in non-FSP treatments (p<0.05) from days 0 to 10. Throughout the overall period, G/F was greater in FSP treatments compared with non-FSP treatments (p<0.05). On d 10, N digestibility was higher in pigs fed FSP diets than in those fed non-FSP diets (p<0.05). Diet complexity did not affect growth performance and nutrient digestibility (p>0.05) in this experiment. In Exp 2, 12 ileal-cannulated, weanling barrows were housed in individual metabolism crates and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments (same as Exp. 1) by using a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Among the essential amino acids, apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of Met and Val were increased in pigs fed FSP diets compared with those fed non-FSP diets (p<0.05). AID of Met, Phe and total essential amino acids were higher in pigs fed complex diets than in those fed simple diets (p<0.05). Among the non-essential amino acids, AID of Ala in FSP treatments was greater than that in non-FSP treatments (p<0.05). In addition, Asp, Cys, Glu, Pro, Ser and total non-essential amino acid digestibilities in pigs fed complex diets were higher compared with those fed simple diets (p<0.05). Interaction was observed in AID of Met, Asp and Pro. In conclusion, these results indicated that feeding of 5% FSP to nursery pigs improved feed efficiency and AID of amino acids, and diet complexity did not maximize the growth performance of pigs in the subsequent phase.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.390-395
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• 2002

Two experiments were conducted to study the performance and carcass characteristics of Hanwoo (Korean native beef cattle) steers (Experiment 1) and the nutrient digestibility of sheep (Experiment 2) when the animals fed diets containing four levels of dried wormwood (Artemisia sp.). For both experiments the animals were given a basal diet consisting of rice straw and concentrate mixed at 3:7 ratio (on DM basis). In Experiment 1, the treatments were designed as a completely randomized design with two feeding periods. Steers were allotted in one of four dietary treatments, which were designed to progressively substitute dried wormwood for 0, 3, 5 and 10% of the rice straw in the basal diet. Bodyweight gain and average daily gain (ADG) of Hanwoo steers fed diets containing the 5 and 10% wormwood inclusion were greater (p<0.05) than the 3% wormwood-feeding group. Total and daily intakes of roughage and concentrate were not altered by all levels of dried wormwood inclusion. However, the 10% dried wormwood inclusion led to increased total feed intake (p<0.05) compared with that of the 0 and 3% of dried wormwood inclusion. Carcass weight, carcass yield and backfat thickness were not altered by dried wormwood inclusion. The highest level of dried wormwood inclusion resulted in significantly increased (p<0.05) loin-eye area compared with the 0 and 5% levels of dried wormwood inclusion. Experiment 2 was designed by a $4{\times}4$ Latin square with four periods. Sheep were allocated in one of four dietary treatments as same as in Experiment 1. Digestibilities of DM and TDN were significantly increased (p<0.05) in sheep fed the diet containing all three levels of dried wormwood inclusion compared with the control treatment. Digestibilities of CP and crude fiber in the 5% dried wormwood inclusion highly increased (p<0.05) up to 8.2 and 5.5% respectively relative to the control treatment. The palatability was significantly improved (p<0.05) by the 5% dried wormwood inclusion compared with the control treatment. It is concluded that feeding diets containing dried wormwood substituted for equal weights of rice straw at 5 and 10% levels would be anticipated to provide better quality roughage for beef cattle production and higher income for beef cattle producers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.705-712
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• 2006

Influences of urea treated corncobs (UTC) ensiled with or without different additives on ruminal characteristics, in situ digestion kinetics, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen metabolism were examined in a $5{\times}5$ Latin square design using five ruminally cannulated buffalo bulls. Five iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets were formulated to contain 30% dry matter (DM) from concentrate and 70% DM from 5% UTC ensiled without any additive (U) or with 5% enzose (EN), 5% acidified molasses (AM), 5% non-acidified molasses (NM) and 5% acidified water (AW), respectively. These diets were fed to buffalo bulls at 1.5% of their body weight daily. Ruminal $NH_3$-N concentration at 3 hours (h) post feeding was significantly higher in bulls fed U, NM and AW diets, however, at 6, 9 and 12 h post feeding it was significantly higher in bulls fed EN and AM diets. Ruminal total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and acetate concentrations were significantly higher with EM and AM diets compared with other diets at 3, 6, 9 and 12 h post feeding. Ruminal pH at 6 and 9 h post feeding was higher with EN and AM diets; however; it was notably lower with these diets at 3 h post feeding. Total ruminal bacterial and cellulolytic bacterial counts were higher in bulls fed EN and AM diets than in those fed the other diets. In situ ruminal DM and NDF degradabilities and total tract digestibilities were significantly higher with UTC ensiled with enzose and acidified molasses than those ensiled without any additive or other additives. Nitrogen balance was significantly higher in bulls fed EN and AM diets than those fed U, AW and NM diets. The UTC ensiled with enzose or acidified molasses resulted in better digestibility and N utilization than those ensiled without any additive, with non-acidified molasses and acidified water in buffaloes.