• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제23권10호
• /
• pp.1299-1307
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary antioxidant and energy density on performance and antioxidative status in transition cows. Forty cows were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatments in a $2{\times}2$ factorial design. High or low energy density diets (1.43 or 1.28 Mcal $NE_L$/kg DM, respectively) were formulated with or without antioxidant (AOX, a dry granular blend of ethoxyquin and tertiary-butylhydroquinone; 0 or 5 g/cow per d). These diets were fed to cows for 21 days pre-partum. During the post-partum period, all cows were fed the same lactation diets, and AOX treatment followed as for the pre-partum period. Feeding a high energy diet depressed the DMI, milk yield, and 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM) of cows. However, AOX inclusion in the diet improved the milk and 4% FCM yields. There was an interaction of energy density by AOX on milk protein, milk fat and total solids contents. Feeding a high energy diet pre-partum increased plasma glucose and ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyrate, whereas dietary AOX decreased plasma ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyrate value during the transition period. There were also interactions between time and treatment for plasma glutathione peroxidase activity and malondialdehyde content during the study. Cows fed high energy diets pre-partum had higher plasma glutathione peroxidase activity 3 days prior to parturition, compared with those on low energy diets. Inclusion of AOX in diets decreased plasma glutathione peroxidase activity in cows 3 and 10 days pre-partum. Addition of AOX significantly decreased malondialdehyde values at calving. Energy density induced marginal changes in fatty acid composition in the erythrocyte membrane 3 days post-partum, while AOX only significantly increased cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid composition. The increase in fluidity of the erythrocyte membrane was only observed in the high energy treatment. It is suggested that a diet containing high energy density pre-partum may negatively affect the anti-oxidative status, DMI and subsequent performance. Addition of AOX may improve the anti-oxidative status and reduce plasma ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyrate, eventually resulting in improved lactation performance; the response to AOX addition was more pronounced on the high energy diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제23권2호
• /
• pp.226-233
• /
• 2010

Different dietary cereal sources and fat types in the lactation diet were evaluated to investigate their effects on reproductive performance, milk composition, blood metabolites and hormones in multiparous sows. Twenty-four sows were randomly assigned to one of four treatments according to a 2${\times}$2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Each treatment had 6 replicates comprising 1 sow. Two cereal (corn or wheat) and two fat (tallow or soybean oil) sources were used to prepare iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets. Sows fed corn-based diets lost less body weight (p = 0.003) and backfat thickness (p = 0.034), consumed more feed (p = 0.032) and had shorter wean-to-estrus interval (p = 0.016) than sows fed wheat-based diets. Fewer piglets and lower body weight of piglets (p<0.05) at weaning were noted in sows fed wheat-based diets than in sows fed corn-based diets. However, no significant effects (p>0.05) of dietary fat source and its interaction with dietary cereal source on sow body condition and reproductive performance were observed during lactation. Feeding of a corn-based diet improved (p<0.05) sow milk total solid, protein and fat, increased blood urea nitrogen (p = 0.032) and triglyceride (p = 0.018), and decreased blood creatinine (p = 0.011) concentration at weaning when compared with sows fed wheatbased diets. Sows fed corn-based diets had higher concentration of insulin (p = 0.048) and LH (p<0.05) at weaning than sows fed wheatbased diets. The results indicate that feeding corn-based diets to lactating sows improved sow body condition and reproductive performance compared with wheat-based diets regardless of fat sources.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제22권4호
• /
• pp.471-482
• /
• 2009

Nutrient availability may control muscle growth directly and indirectly through its influence on regulatory factors. We analyzed the effects of nutrient availability on the breast muscle insulin-like growth factor system. Real time RT-PCR was used to quantify the level of transcription in breast muscle from Langshan (LS) layer and Arbor Acres (AA) broiler chickens subjected to different feeding regimens during embryonic and postnatal development. The AA chickens were fed AA diet (AA, control group) while the LS chickens were either fed LS diet (LL) or AA diet (LA). According to our results, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II (embryonic day 16 (E16) - postnatal day 42 (P42)), IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR, E18-P42), and IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-2 (E18-P42), -5 (E16-P14), -7 (E12-P0), and -3 (E12-P0) were positively correlated with IGF-I, while IGFBP-3 (P0-P28) was negatively correlated with IGF-I. In comparison, IGF-IR (E18-P42), IGFBP-2 (E18-P42), IGFBP-5 (E14-P0), and IGFBP-3 (E16-P0) were positively correlated with IGF-II, while IGF-IR (E10-E16) and IGFBP-3 (P0-P28) were negatively correlated with IGF-II. Moreover, IGFBP-2 (E16-P42), -7 (E10-E16), and -3 (E10-E16) were positively correlated with IGF-IR, while IGFBP-3 (P0-P28) was negatively correlated with IGF-IR. Finally, IGFBP-7 (E12-P0) was positively correlated with IGFBP-3, while IGFBP-2 (P0-P28) and -7 (P0-P42) were negatively correlated with IGFBP-3. Overall, the AA chickens exhibited higher levels of IGF-I, IGF-IR, and IGFBP-2 mRNA expression than the LL chickens, while the opposite was true for IGFBP-7. No strain differences in IGF-I, IGF-IR, and IGFBP-7 mRNA expression were detected between LA and AA chickens; however, a strain difference was observed for IGFBP-2. LA chickens exhibited higher levels of IGFBP-2 than LL chickens, while the opposite was true for IGFBP-7. Our data show the first evidence that certain genes may be correlated during specific developmental periods and that strain differences in the expression of those genes in LS and AA chickens are due to differential responses to the same diet.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제25권11호
• /
• pp.1546-1552
• /
• 2012

A feeding experiment with 40 lactating Holstein cows and 4 dietary treatments was conducted to investigate supplementation with different levels of alcohol fermented feed to the TMR on lactating performance, blood metabolites, milk fatty acid profile and cholesterol concentration of blood and milk. Forty Holstein lactating cows ($106{\pm}24$ d post-partum; mean${\pm}$SD) were distributed into four groups and randomly assigned to one of four treatments with each containing 10 cows per treatment. The treatment supplemented with TMR (DM basis) as the control (CON), and CON mixed with alcohol-fermented feeds (AFF) at a level of 5%, 10% and 15% of the TMR as T1, T2 and T3, respectively. Dry matter intake and milk yield were not affected by supplementation of AFF. An increased 4% FCM in the milk occurred in cows fed T3 diet compared with CON, while T1 and T2 diets decreased 4% FCM in a dose dependent manner. Supplementation of AFF increased the concentration of albumin, total protein (TP), ammonia, and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in serum compared with CON. In contrast, supplementation with AFF clearly decreased concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and total cholesterol (TC) compare with CON. AFF supplementation increased the proportion of C18:1n9 and C18:2n6 compared to CON. A decrease in the concentration of saturated fatty acid (SFA) for T1, T2 and T3 resulted in an increased unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) to SFA ratio compared to CON. Concentration of cholesterol in milk fat was reduced in proportion to the supplemental level of AFF. Feeding a diet supplemented with a moderate level AFF to lactating cows could be a way to alter the feed efficiency and fatty acid profile of milk by increasing potentially human consumer healthy fatty acid without detrimental effects on feed intake and milk production. A substantially decreased cholesterol proportion in milk induced by supplementation AFF suggests that alcohol fermented feed may improve milk cholesterol levels without any negative effects in lactating cows.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제25권8호
• /
• pp.1132-1137
• /
• 2012

Objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of partial substitution of barley grain with bread by-product (BB) on performance of Awassi ewes and their lambs. Forty Awassi ewes rearing single lambs were randomly allotted into four experimental diets containing various levels of BB. The experimental diets contained 0 (BB0), 10 (BB10), 15 (BB15), and 20% (BB20) of BB on dietary dry matter (DM). The study lasted for eight weeks, in which the first week was used as an adaptation period and seven weeks of data collection. Ewes and their lambs were penned individually where they were fed their lactating diets ad libitum. Ewes and lambs body weights were measured at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. However, milk production and composition were evaluated biweekly. Feeding BB had no effect (p>0.05) on dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) intakes. However, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake was the lowest (p<0.05) for the BB20 and BB15 diets followed to BB10 diet (i.e., 640, 677, 772 g/d, respectively) while the highest NDF intake was for the BB0 diet (i.e., 825 g/d). Similarly, NDF intake decreased linearly (p<0.001) as the BB content increased. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake was highest (p<0.05) for the BB0 and BB10 diets (425 and 416 g/d, respectively) followed by the BB15 and BB20 diets (359 and 342 g/d, respectively). Moreover, a linear (p<0.001), quadratic (p = 0.04), and cubic (p = 0.04) effects were observed in ADF intake among diets. Nutrient digestibility was similar among different diets. Bread by-product had no effect (p>0.05) on ewes body weight change and on lamb performance (i.e., weaning body weight and average daily gain). Similarly, no differences (p>0.05) were observed either in milk production or composition by the BB substitution. Inclusion of BB reduced feed cost by 9, 14, and 18% for the BB10, BB15, and BB20 diets, respectively. No differences were observed in milk efficiency (DM intake: milk production; p>0.05) among diets. However, cost of milk production ($US/kg milk) was the lowest (p<0.05) in the diet containing BB20. Results of the present study indicate that feeding bread by-product up to 20% of the diet DM had no effect on performance of Awassi ewes and their lambs and reduced feed cost.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제25권8호
• /
• pp.1124-1131
• /
• 2012

Four Thai - rumen fistulated male swamp buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis), about four years old with $400{\pm}20kg$ liveweight, were randomly assigned according to a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design to receive dietary treatments. The treatments were: ground corn cob (GCC) replacement for cassava chip (CC) in concentrate at 0% (T1); GCC replacement at 33% (T2); GCC replacement at 67% (T3); and GCC replacement at 100% (T4), respectively. During the experiment, concentrate was offered at 0.5% BW while 5% urea-treated rice straw was given at ad libitum. The result revealed that there was no effect of GCC replacement on DMI among treatments. In addition, digestibilities of DM, OM and CP were not different while aNDF linearly increased with an increasing level of GCC replacement. However, GCC replacement did not affect rumen fermentation such as ruminal pH, $NH_3$-N and VFA concentration; except C3 proportion which was the highest at 33% replacement while the lowest was at 100% replacement. All replacements of GCC resulted in similar protozoal and bacterial populations and microbial protein synthesis (MPS). Purine derivatives (PD) concentration in urine and PD to creatinine (PDC) index were varied with time of urination and among treatments at 0 to 8 and 8 to 16 h post feeding and higher values were shown among the GCC replacement groups. However at 16 to 24 h-post feeding, it was untraceable. In addition, creatinine concentration was similar among all treatments at every sampling time. Based on the above results, GCC can be used as an energy source for swamp buffalo fed with rice straw. Spot sampling of urine can be used for purine derivatives determination.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제26권6호
• /
• pp.827-830
• /
• 2013

To evaluate the effects of feeding four different levels of starter in male Holstein dairy calves, a completely randomized study was conducted, using 28 calves with initial body weight of $40.5{\pm}2.4$ kg. The animals were fed iso-nitrogenous starter and were weaned when they consumed 350, 500, 650 and 800 g/d of starter for 3 d consecutively. Starter and water were available ad-libitum throughout the experiment. Body weight at pre-weaning (less than 5 wk) and post-weaning (8 wk) was lower in calves that received 350 g/d of starter than in the other treatments (p<0.05). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was the highest among all treatments in pre-weaning period (p<0.05). Dry matter intake (DMI) at weaning and total DMI was higher in that calves received 800 g/d of starter compared with other treatments (p<0.05). Calves fed 350 and 500 g/d of starter were weaned earlier (p<0.05) and showed lower milk consumption (kg, DM) compared with other treatments whereas no significant difference was observed between calves fed 350 and 500 g/d of starter (p>0.05). Dry matter, organic matter and crude protein digestibilities were lower in calves that received 350 g/d of starter compared with other treatments (p<0.05). No differences were observed in acid detergent and neutral detergent fiber digestibility among all treatments (p>0.05).Treatments had no significant effect on time of starting rumination, respiratory score, and days of drug administration for pneumonia. There were no meaningful differences in feces, fecal odor scores, body temperature, and days of drug administration for diarrhea among all treatments (p>0.05). Total dry matter intake at the end of experiment showed no significant difference among calves fed 600 and 800 g/d of starter, but calves fed 350 and 500 g/d of starter showed more dry matter (DM) intake than calves in the 600 and 800 g/d groups (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제33권10호
• /
• pp.1617-1623
• /
• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary probiotic blend and liquid feed program at different nutritional densities on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal score of weaning piglets. Methods: A total of 120 weaning pigs with an initial body weight of 7.05±0.93 kg per pig (21 days of age) were randomly allocated into 1 of the following 8 dietary treatments (3 replicates per treatment with 5 pigs per replicate) in a 2×2×2 factorial arrangement (nutrition levels: apparent metabolic energy [AME] = 3,500 kcal/kg, crude protein [CP] = 20% vs AME = 3,400 kcal/kg, CP = 19.42%; feed types:dry vs wet; probiotics levels: 0 mg/kg vs 300 mg/kg). Results: During d 5 to d 15, greater average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05) were observed in probiotics treatments. During d 15 to d 25, gain:feed (G:F) ratio (p<0.05) were significantly improved in probiotics, wet feed and high nutrition diet. Moreover, two interactions i) between nutrition levels and feed types, and ii) between nutrition levels and probiotics were found in G:F ratio. Furthermore, there was a significant positive interaction on G:F among those 3 factors (p<0.05). Overall, increasing ADG, ADFI, and G:F ratio were detected in probiotics treatment significantly (p<0.05). Besides, an obvious reduction on fecal score was observed in probiotics treatment from d 0 to d 5 (p<0.05). There was an interactive effect on fecal score between feed types and nutrition concentrations from d 5 to d 25 (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results indicated that probiotics supplementation could benefit growth performance and reduce the frequency of watery feces. Besides, wet feed program (feed:water = 1:1.25) could improve the G:F. The effect of liquid feed or probiotic could be influenced by dietary nutrition density in weaned piglets. An increased value of G:F was obtained when wet feeding a high nutrition diet (100 kcal higher than NRC 2012 recommendations) was supplemented with probiotics for 15 to 25 days.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제17권5호
• /
• pp.678-683
• /
• 2004

An experiment was carried out to study the effects of exogenous enzymes (cellulases and proteases), yeast culture and effective micro-organism (EM) culture on feed digestibility and the performance of rabbits fed rice bran rich diets over a period of ten weeks. Twenty four, 8 to 9 weeks old male and female New Zealand White rabbits were allotted to 4 dietary treatments; a basal (control) feed containing 43% rice bran, basal feed supplemented with either enzymes, yeast culture or EM. Individual feed intake, body weight gain, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics and feed cost were studied. Sex of the rabbits had no significant (p<0.05) influence on the parameters studied. The control group showed the lowest daily feed intake (104.8 g), body weight gain (12.8 g) and the highest feed/gain ratio (8.20 g/g). The highest daily feed intake (114.3 g), body weight gain (20.42 g) and the lowest feed/gain ratio (5.60) were observed with enzymes. Compared to the control, yeast significantly (p<0.05) improved the feed intake, body weight gain and feed/gain ratio by 4.9, 34.4 and 22.0%, respectively, while EM improved (p<0.05) them by 4.0, 32.6 and 21.6%, respectively. All the additives improved (p<0.05) the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber and energy by 4.9-8.7, 3.6-10.7, 5.9-8.3 and 4.3-6.4%, respectively. Higher weights of pancreas (by 38.5-56.4%) and caecum (by 13.1-26.8%, compared to the control) were recorded with all additives but liver weight was increased only by yeast (24.5%) and enzymes (26.7%). Significantly (p<0.05) higher carcass recovery percentages were observed with enzymes (60.55), yeast (60.47) and EM (56.60) as compared to the control (48.52). Enzymes, yeast and EM reduced (p<0.05) the feed cost per kg live weight by 23.8, 15.9 and 15.5%, respectively. Results revealed that enzymes, yeast culture and EM can be used to improve the feeding value of agro-industrial by-products for rabbits in Sri Lanka and thereby to reduce the feed cost. Under the present feeding system, enzyme supplement was the best.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제14권9호
• /
• pp.1276-1281
• /
• 2001

The feeding values of four indigenous Kenyan sorghum cultivars and the effects of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on the utilization of high tannin sorghum by broiler chicks were studied in two 3-week feeding trials. In Experiment 1, one hundred and five broiler chicks (initial average weight 97 g) were randomly assigned to each one of the seven grain-soybean meal diets. The diets consisted of maize [diet 1; no assayable tannin], white sorghum [diet 2; 0.59% catechin equivalents (CE)], cream sorghum [diet 3; 0.94% CE], light brown sorghum [diet 4; 2.71% CE] and dark brown sorghum [diet 5; 3.54% CE]. Diets 6 and 7 were included to test the possibility of overcoming the detrimental effects of sorghum tannins by adding PVP at 0.25% and 0.5% to dark brown sorghum, which resulted in dietary tannin levels of 3.46% and 3.38% CE respectively. In Experiment 2, the effects of tannin on dry matter digestibility (DMD) and nitrogen (N) retention were studied in a 3-week substitution assay in which high tannin sorghum (5% CE) was substituted for white maize at different inclusion levels. Ninety broiler chicks aged 7 days (initial average weight 102 g) were randomly assigned to each one of the six diets. The diets consisted of corn gluten meal and fishmeal as protein sources plus maize [diet 1] and high tannin sorghum at different inclusion levels [diets 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6], resulting in dietary tannin levels of 0, 1.25%, 1.66%, 2.08%, 2.5% and 3.2% CE respectively. Feed intake, feed efficiency and body weight gain were measured weekly. In Experiment 2, tannin absorption, DMD and N retention were measured on days 19, 20 and 21. The results of Experiment 1 showed that feed intake, feed efficiency and body weight gain were all affected by treatment (p<0.05). Diets 1, 2 and 3 gave similar body weight gains and all were better than diets 4 and 5 (i.e. 504, 517, 473 g, vs. 256, 267 g). Similarly, feed efficiencies were higher (p<0.05) for diets 1, 2 and 3 compared to diets 4 and 5 (0.4, 0.42, 0.39 vs. 0.21, 0.23). When 0.25% PVP was added to the dark brown sorghum (diet 6) there was no significant improvement in chick performance (p>0.05). However, addition of 0.5% PVP (diet 7) resulted in significant improvement (p<0.05) in body weight gain compared to the untreated dark brown sorghum. Overall, PVP did not completely overcome the deleterious effects of tannins. The results of Experiment 2 indicate that sorghum inclusion level and subsequent tannin level had no effect on feed intake, feed efficiency, weight gain, DMD and N retention. The above results suggest that tannin level should be limited to below 2.71% CE in broiler chick diets containing 20% CP and 0.4% methionine. However, in diets with 23% CP and 0.8% methionine tannin level of up to 3.2% will not affect performance. Consequently high tannin sorghum (5% CE) can be used to substitute for white maize by up to 100% in broiler chick diets.