• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.773-788
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• 2003

Ostrich farming is a developing industry in most countries in the world, with farm profitability being largely dependent on the quality of the products, especially skins and meat. To produce quality products, it is essential to ensure that nutrient supply matches the nutrient requirements of ostriches during their growth. To achieve this, information on feed utilisation efficiency and nutrient requirements of ostriches at different maturity stages is required. In South Africa, a number of experiments were carried out to assess the nutritive value of feed and to define the nutrient requirement of ostriches. These data were derived from limited number of birds and the direct application of the results to ostrich farming in Australia and other countries is questionable due to the difference in environment and feed resources. Initially ostrich farmers used data from poultry as a guideline for feed formulation, but in recent years more data has become available for ostriches. Ostriches have a better feed utilisation efficiency and a larger capacity of using high fibre feeds such as pastures than poultry. This review revealed that there are a number of areas there further nutritional research and development is required to ensure the ostriches are provided suitable diets to maximise farm profitability. These include the assessment of the nutritive value of feed ingredients for ostrich chicks and adult birds, the determination of nutrient requirements of ostriches under different farming systems, the development of ostrich diet for producing specific product, and grazing management strategies of ostriches in a crop-pasture rotation system.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 1998

To compare response of feeding concentrate mixtere and wheat straw (Group I) with either urea molasses liquid diet (UMLD) as sole ration (group II) or UMLD (similar to protein equivalent of concentrate mixture) plus wheat straw (group III) on intake and utilisation of nutrients and overall performance, twelve crossbred adult male cattle (Holstein Friesian ${\times}$ Hariana) aged about 2.5 years and weighing 342 kg were randomly allotted into three equal groups following completely randomised design and fed respective diets for a period of 60 days. Thereafter, a metabolism trial of seven days duration was conducted to assess nutrient utilisation and nitrogen balance. Animals fed UMLD as sole ration consumed significantly (p < 0.01) less amount of most of the nutrients as compared to other two groups, except crude protein, intake of which was higher in this group but it was comparable between II and III and III and I. On the other hand, digestibilities of nutrients were higher (p < 0.01) in group II, though it was comparable between other two groups, except ADF, the digestibility of which was lower in group II. Inspite of positive nitrogen balance in all the three groups, being significantly (p < 0.01) higher in group I, animals of group II and III lost their body weight especially to the utmost extent in group II, although the amount of energy (TDN) intake were similar statistically. Results indicate that during a scarcity period and economic compulsions, feeding of UMLD can be practised to replace only concentrate mixture from the maintenance ration of adult crossbred cattle for shorter duration as roughage part seems to be essential for the normal functioning of the rumen microbes and overall performance of the animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1643-1653
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• 2018

Objective: This study investigated the effect of dietary crude protein (CP) supplementation on nutrient intake, nitrogen (N) utilisation, blood metabolites, ruminal fermentation and growth performance of young Holstein bulls. Methods: Twenty-one young bulls weighing $277{\pm}11.2kg$ were equally divided into three groups and were offered diets formulated with low CP (LCP; 10.21% CP and 4.22% rumen degradable protein [RDP]), medium CP (MCP; 12.35% CP and 5.17% RDP) and high CP (HCP; 14.24% CP and 6.03% RDP). Yellow corn silage was used as a unique forage source and was mixed with concentrate. This mixed feed was given ad libitum to the young bulls included in the study. Results: Results showed that CP intake, blood urea nitrogen, N intake, total N excretion and N balance increased linearly with an increase in dietary CP level (p<0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in nutrient digestibility among the bulls receiving the different diets. Ruminal pH (p<0.05) and ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3-N$) concentration (p<0.01) were significantly higher in the bulls receiving the MCP and HCP diets than in those receiving the LCP diet. The bulls receiving the HCP diet showed significantly higher ruminal bacterial protein level, propionate, acetate and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentrations than bulls receiving the LCP diet (p<0.05). Moreover, dietary CP level exerted a significant positive effect on the final body weight, average daily gain and gain-to-feed ratio of the bulls (p<0.05). Conclusion: High dietary CP level is optimal for achieving maximum growth and high profitability without exerting a negative effect on the physiology of growing Holstein bulls.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1100-1107
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• 2007

The effects of offering broilers phosphorus-adequate diets containing 10.0 and 11.8 g/kg lysine, without and with 500 FTU/kg exogenous phytase, on growth performance and nutrient utilisation were determined. Each of the four experimental diets was offered to 6 replicates of 10 birds from 7 to 28 days of age. Effects of treatment on performance, apparent metabolisable energy, apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids and bone mineralisation were examined. Both additional lysine and phytase supplementation improved (p<0.05) weight gain and feed efficiency, with interactions (p<0.05), as phytase responses were more pronounced in lysine-deficient diets. Phytase improved (p<0.05) apparent metabolisable energy, which was independent of the dietary lysine status. Bone mineralisation, as determined by percentage toe ash, was not affected by treatment, which confirms the phosphorus-adequate status of the diets. Phytase increased (p<0.05) the apparent ileal digestibility of the sixteen amino acids assessed. Unexpectedly, however, the dietary addition of 1.8 g/kg lysine, as lysine monohydrochloride, increased (p<0.05) the ileal digestibility of lysine per se and also that of isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, valine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and tyrosine. In addition, there were significant interactions (p<0.05) between additional lysine and phytase supplementation for arginine, lysine, phenylalanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine and serine digestibilities, with the effects of phytase being more pronounced in lysine-deficient diets. The possible mechanisms underlying the increases in amino acid digestibility in response to additional lysine and the interactions between lysine and microbial phytase in this regard are discussed. Also, consideration is given to the way in which phytate and phytase may influence ileal digestibility of amino acids.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.268-271
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• 1998

Twenty crossbred calves of $88{\pm}5.5kg$ initial live weight and 3-4 month of age were divided into two groups and fed wheat straw and concentrate to support a 500 g daily gain in body weight. Calves in the experimental group (YC) were given a daily dose of 10 ml yeast cell suspension (YC) containing live cells $(5{\times}10^9 cells/ml)$ of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ITCCF 2094. After a growth study of 122 days metabolism trials were conducted. The calves in the YC group recorded a daily weigt gain of $492{\pm}27.8g$ as compared to $476{\pm}20.1g$ in control group. There were no significant differences in feed intake, nutrient digestibility, feed/gain ratio and nitrogen retention between the YC supplemented and control groups.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1158-1164
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• 2003

In two feeding experiments male and mixed-sex broiler chicks were offered diets based on sorghum and a wheatsorghum blend with two tiers of nutrient specifications, without and with microbial phytase (600 and 800 FTU/kg), from 7-25 and 1-42 days post-hatch, respectively. The nutrient specifications for protein, amino acids, energy density and phosphorus (P) of standard diets were reduced to formulate the modified diets on a least-cost basis. Calculated differences in nutrient specifications between standard and modified diets ranged from 14.3 to 17.1 g/kg crude protein, 0.24 to 0.40 MJ/kg apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and 1.06 to 1.20 g/kg available P. In both experiments, reduced nutrient specifications had a negative impact on growth rates and feed efficiency and phytase supplementation had a positive influence on growth performance and protein efficiency ratios (PER). Phytase addition to the less expensive, modified diets either partially or entirely compensated for reduced growth performance and, consequently, feed costs per kg of live weight gain were reduced. In Experiment 1, phytase increased (p<0.001) nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn) from 15.39 to 15.89 MJ/kg dry matter. For nitrogen (N) retention there was an interaction (p<0.05) between diet type and phytase as the effects of phytase on N retention were more pronounced in the modified diets, with an increase from 0.512 to 0.561. These results demonstrate the positive effects of phytase on protein and energy utilisation, in addition to its established liberation of phytate-bound P and illustrate the feasibility of assigning nutrient replacement values to the feed enzyme for consideration in least-cost ration formulations. Further work is, however, required to define the most appropriate reductions in nutrient specifications in association with phytase supplementation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.283-300
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• 2004

Currently commercial dry sows are housed in individual stalls and subject to restricted feeding. These sows often show stereotypic behaviours which increase their maintenance energy requirement. Group housing is desirable to improve animal welfare and public perception. However, under restricted feeding systems, group-housed dry sows are also aggressive. The feed intake of these sows is variable, depending on their social rank, which results in different milk production and variable piglet performance. These problems can be solved by ad libitum feeding systems, but the large capacity of intake by dry sows will not allow this feeding system to be practical as high feeding level during pregnancy can reduce reproduction performance of sows. Current research indicates that feeding high fibre diets to dry sows enables sows to be fed ad libitum, but the effect of dietary fibre on feed intake and nutrient utilisation is dependent on the quality of fibre sources. Most research has focused on sugar beet pulp, straw, lucerne meal and by-products, but there is a need to identify and evaluate some widely available and cheap fibre materials and feed grains for developing the best strategy to control nutrient intake of dry sows while feeding ad libitum.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2019

Phytate induced excessive mineral excretion through poultry litter leads to poor performance and environmental pollution. Exogenous microbial phytase supplementation to poultry diets reduce the environmental excretion of nutrient and improve bird's performance. However, excessive dietary sodium (Na) level may hinder the phytase-mediated phytate hydrolysis and negate the beneficial effects of phytase. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different concentration dietary Na on phytase activity and subsequent impact on broiler performance, bone mineralisation and nutrient utilisation. In this study, six experimental diets, consisting of three different levels of Na (1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 g/kg) and two levels of microbial phytase (0 or 500 U/kg) were formulated by using $3{\times}2$ factorial design. The six experimental diets were offered to 360 day-old Ross 306 male chicks for 35 days, where, each experimental diet consisted of 6 replicates groups with 10 birds. Along with growth performance, nutrient utilization, intestinal enzyme activity, dry matter (DM) content of litter and mineral status in bone were analysed. Dietary Na and phytase had no effect on bode weight gain and feed intake. Birds on the low Na diet showed higher (p < 0.05) feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the mid-Na diets. High dietary Na adversely affected (p < 0.001) excreta DM content. Phytase supplementation to the high-Na diet increased (p < 0.01) the litter ammonia content. High dietary Na with phytase supplementation improved ($Na{\times}phytase$, p < 0.05) the AME value and ileal digestibility of Ca and Mg. The total tract retention of Ca, P, and Mg was reduced with high Na diet, which was counteracted by phytase supplementation ($Na{\times}phytase$, p < 0.001). The diets containing mid-level of Na improved (p < 0.001) the function of Na-K-ATPase and Mg-ATPase in the jejunum. The overall results indicate that high dietary Na did not affect phytase activity but influenced the nutrient utilization of birds, which was not reflected in bird overall performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.1273-1277
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• 2002

The effect of urea treatment on chemical composition of neem seed kernel cake (NSKC) was investigated by soaking the cake in 2.1% urea solution (1.2 l $kg^{-1}$ NSKC) for five days. The effect on utilisation of nutrients by replacing groundnut cake (GNC) (30%) with urea-treated neem seed kernel cake (UTNSKC) (33%) in a concentrate mixture fed to meet 70% of the protein requirements of lambs (8 males and 8 females), was monitored in a digestibility study. Following urea treatment of NSKC only 9.5% of urea was hydrolysed and the crude protein content of the cake was increased by 6.65%. The tannin content in depulped neem seeds was 37% catechin equivalent. Whereas feeding UTNSKC had no effect on intake of dry matter (72.5 vs 66.3 g/kg $BW^{0.75}day^{-1}$) and digestibility of crude fibre (41.3 vs 43.4%), the cake depressed (p<0.01) the percent digestibility of dry matter (63.7 vs 70.2), crude protein (63.2 vs 70.2), nitrogen free extract (73.8 vs 80.5) and gross energy (64.3 vs 69.1). Digestibility of ether extract (75.8 vs 70.9%) was higher (p<0.05) in animals offered UTNSKC. The nutritive value of the composite ration consumed by lambs offered UTNSKC was lower (p<0.01) in terms of total digestible nutrients (64.7 vs 70.2%) and digestible energy (2.8 vs 3.0 Kcal/g DM). Intake of digestible energy (199.8 vs 194.1 Kcal/kg $BW^{0.75}day^{-1}$) and retention of nitrogen (7.53 vs 8.23 g $day^{-1}$) and calcium (2.12 vs 1.84 g $day^{-1}$) were comparable on the 2 rations. Animals fed UTNSKC retained less (p<0.01) phosphorus (0.37 vs 1.05 g $day^{-1}$). The results indicate that urea treatment increased the protein level of NSKC whereas feeding the treated cake as a replacement of GNC, lowered the digestibility of nutrients and retention of phosphorus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.1245-1248
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• 2000

In order to ascertain the influence of supplemental iodine on nutrient utilisation by goats fed a leucaena leucocephala leaf meal containing diet, 8 adult male goats (2 years; $22.3{\pm}1.73kg$) were randomly allocated into two groups, viz. control and experimental. Both the groups were fed a diet comprising of wheat bran, leucaena leaf meal and wheat straw ad lib. In addition, the experimental animals were given extra iodine at 0.04 mg/head/day (as KI soln.). A metabolism trial of 6 days duration conducted after 13 weeks of experimental feeding revealed that the daily DM intake $(g/W^{0.75})$ increased significantly due to iodine supplementation. Similar was the case with the intakes of DCP and ME. The digestibility of CP and EE showed significant improvement in the experimental group while that of DM, OM and total carbohydrates did not vary significantly between the two groups. The animals of control group were in negative nitrogen balance, which improved significantly and become positive in the experimental group. Moreover, the control animals lose weight apparently in contrast to the experimental animals, who maintained their weights. While iodine supplementation tended to enhance phosphorus retention that of calcium exhibited significant improvement. Conclusively, provision of extra iodine to Leucaena containing diet may prove beneficial in augmenting the nutrient utilization of this protein rich tropical forage.