Growth responses of young Merino wethers to ad libitum feeding of oat grain mixed with either lupin seed or a urea solution

1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 643 ◽  
Author(s):  
LG Butler ◽  
CL McDonald

Groups of 10 Merino weaners or hoggets were offered ad libitum 1 of 5 grain mixtures: oats alone (9.1% crude protein, CP), oats mixed with lupins (CP 12 or 15%), and oats sprayed with a urea solution to increase total nitrogen to an equivalent of 12 or 15% CP. In experiment 1, each grain mixture was fed with 10% milled cereal hay to sheep in pens for 98 days; in experiment 2 the sheep grazed wheat stubble for 84 days. In experiment 1, the liveweight gains of weaners and hoggets fed the lupin or urea mixtures were greater by 53-69% and 58-120�/o, respectively, than the daily 9.4 and 54.1 g/head gained on oats alone (P< 0.05). In experiment 2, liveweight gains of sheep fed these mixtures were, with 1 exception, greater by 95-1 54% than the 69.0 and 58.3 g/head gained daily by sheep fed oats alone (P< 0.05). Addition of urea to oats at the higher level (15% CP) tended to depress intake and liveweight gain, compared with the 12% CP level, and the effect was greater among hoggets. Wool production paralleled feed intake and liveweight gain. It is concluded that the daily growth rates of 90 to 130 g/head resulting from treatment of oats with up to 1.5% urea can be similar to those from oat-lupin mixes of equivalent CP (daily 85-150 g/head).

1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 339 ◽  
Author(s):  
LG Butler ◽  
WR King ◽  
CL McDonald

In 2 experiments on cereal stubble, growth responses by Merino hoggets and Merino weaners to ad libitum supplementation with oat grain sprayed with a urea-ammonium sulfate solution were examined. In each experiment, 3 batches of oats of different crude protein(CP=7.8,9.3, 11.4 and 7.1, 10.1, 12.5% w/w) were treated with different amounts of urea (0.55-3.2% w/w) and the feed was offered to groups of 10 hoggets or 7 weaners for 70 days and 100 days respectively. The growth of Merino wether weaners grazing wheat stubble was significantly increased from 86 g/sheep.day to 116 g/sheep.day by adding urea to supplements of low protein (7%) oats. The intake of low protein oats sprayed with urea was decreased when urea was added at a level making up 3% of the supplement. Daily growth rates (132-152 g/sheep) of weaner sheep fed oats of 10% and 12.5% crude protein were not significantly different. The addition of urea to these oats did not produce significant additional growth responses. There was no effect on hogget daily growth rate (average = 160 g/sheep) of CP, of the base oat, or of treatment of the oat with a urea-ammonium sulfate mixture.


Author(s):  
A.L. Lightfoot ◽  
A.W. Armsby ◽  
C.F. Widdows

An experiment was carried out to determine which feeding method maximised feed intake of growing pigs and to record growth rates, feed conversion efficiency and backfat measurements. There is an increasing tendency for dry fed pigs to be fed ad libitum or to appetite in order to increase growth rates and throughput of building.Limited information is available on how the modern genetically improved pig will respond to high levels of feeding and whether ad libitum feeding will encourage higher feed intake than feeding to appetite either wet or dry.


1993 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. E. Robinson ◽  
M. W. Yu ◽  
M. E. Lupicki ◽  
R. T. Hardin

The immediate effects of a sudden increase in feed allowance on selected morphological and reproductive traits were investigated in broiler breeder hens at 44 wk of age. Fifty Indian River hens were individually caged at 40 wk of age. Prior to 40 wk of age the birds had been feed restricted in accordance with the breeder's recommended feeding program. Five treatment groups (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) of 10 birds each were formed based on level of feeding and duration of exposure to such feeding. T1, T2 and T3 birds were feed restricted (128 g of daily feed bird−1) from 40 to 44, 40 to 45 and 40 to 46 wk of age, respectively. T4 and T5 birds were also feed restricted at the same level as the other groups to 44 wk of age and then were full fed from 44 to 45 and 44 to 46 wk of age, respectively. To facilitate study of follicular recruitment and yolk deposition, hens were fed 10 g of oil-soluble red and black dyes, daily, on alternate days, beginning at 42 wk of age. Birds were killed on day 0 (44 wk; T1), day 7 (45 wk; T2, T4), or day 14 (46 wk; T3, T5). Full-fed hens consumed approximately 100 g more feed per day than did feed-restricted hens, with marked increases in feed intake on the first day of full feeding. After 7 d of ad libitum feeding, significant increases were seen in body weight, liver weight, percent liver fat, plasma lipid concentration, ovary weight, and the incidence of a double hierarchy (simultaneous development) of large follicles. After 14 d of ad libitum feeding, significant increases were also observed in absolute fat-pad weight, individual weights of the four largest preovulatory follicles and number of large preovulatory follicles. The increased number of large follicles in the ovary was not associated with any change in egg production. It is apparent that the morphological disruptions associated with overfeeding broiler breeder hens can be identified within 7 d of full feeding, while any effects on egg production are not seen within the first 14 d of ad libitum feeding. Key words: Broiler breeder, feed intake, yolk deposition, ovarian morphology, egg production


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Adedayo Abiodun Adeniji

A total of seventy-two weaner rabbits of eight weeks of age were used to assess the effects of replacing groundnut cake (GNC) with blood vegetable waste meal (BVWM) in the diets of rabbits. The BVWM was fed to replace dietary GNC at 0, 15, 30, and 45%, with GNC being 15% in the control diet. The four experimental diets were fed ad libitum for a period of eight weeks. BVWM was analyzed to contain a crude protein value of 62.35%. There were comparable feed intake values by rabbits on all the diets although the rabbits in the higher replacement levels of BVWM tended to have consumed more of the feed. There were significant increases (P<0.05) in body weight gain by rabbits as the BVWM level increased in the diet. Similarly, the feed to gain ratio improved and nitrogen digestibility increased (P<0.05) with higher levels of BVWM in the diet. This study shows that rabbits can tolerate the 45% BVWM replacement of groundnut cake effectively.


Author(s):  
Isobel C Vincent ◽  
J Thompson ◽  
R Hill

Concentrate feed with high-glucosinolate rapeseed meal (BRSM) as the sole protein supplement was eaten less readily by weaned calves than a similar feed based on soyabean meal (Stedman et al, 1983), and this was so whether intake was measured during continuous ad libitum feeding, or for short periods, 0.5 h, after twice-daily feeding with changes of feed each day. In these and other experiments with calves (Stedman and Hill, 1987), concentrate feeds based on low-glucosinolate rapeseed meal were eaten more readily than those based on high-glucosinolate meal, but intake of the low-glucosinolate feeds rarely matched that of the corresponding feed containing soyabean meal.


1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (124) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
BA McGregor

Kids six months old and of mean liveweight 22 kg were offered a basal ration of barley and lupins (crude protein 15 .4%) supplemented with three levels of chopped hay (0, 13% of total intake and ad libitum). Supplementation of the basal ration with 13% hay increased total dry matter intake from 479 to 753 g/d (P< 0.001) and liveweight gain from 10 to 54 g/d (P<0 .01). Non-significant increases in total food intake and liveweight gains were achieved by supplementing with ad libitum hay; kids fed ad libitum hay actually consumed 26.9% of their diet as hay. They were then offered various mixtures of barley, oats and lupins with 13% chopped hay at near ad libitum feeding. Differences in intake or growth were not significant at P= 0.05 with kids growing at 74, 65 and 101 g/d for those fed barley, oats and lupins respectively. Results indicate that highest food intake was obtained when 13% chopped hay was added to whole barley grain rations.


1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
SW Walkden-Brown ◽  
BW Norton ◽  
BJ Restall

The effects of season and diet quality on voluntary feed intake and growth were examined in mature cashmere bucks over a 16 month period at Wollongbar (29�S., 153� E.). Three-year-old bucks were individually housed under natural photoperiod and fed ad libitum diets of High (pelleted lucerne, CP 17.6%, ME 8.3 MJ/kg) or Low (pasture hay; CP 6.9%, ME 6.6 mJ/kg) quality, between July 1988 and Oct. 1989 (n = 6/treatment). Bucks on both diets exhibited a seasonal pattern in voluntary feed intake with maximal intakes during spring and summer, and minimal intakes during autumn. The pattern appeared to be circannual with high intakes during spring of both years. Liveweight also varied with season peaking in mid to late summer and reaching a seasonal nadir in late autumn or early winter. Change in liveweight was closely associated with digestible energy intake ( r = 0-87, P < 0.001) resulting in a growth cycle closely resembling that of voluntary feed intake. In both treatments, bucks lost weight throughout autumn, while growth rates were maximal between mid-winter and mid-spring. Diet quality did not alter the magnitude of the autumnal decline in liveweight with bucks losing 7.6% (Low) and 7.8% (High) of liveweight during this period. However, bucks on the high quality diet exhibited significantly elevated growth rates between mid-winter and mid-spring. We conclude that mature cashmere bucks exhibit an annual growth cycle with weight loss during autumn and maximal weight gains between mid-winter and mid-spring; that the growth cycle is driven primarily by changes in voluntary feed intake; and that increasing diet quality does not reduce the autumnal decline in liveweight but significantly increases liveweight gain during the seasonal peak in growth.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (55) ◽  
pp. 6976-6986
Author(s):  
OA Makinde ◽  

The study investigated different feed restriction programs during an 8-week broiler chicken growing cycle as a management strategy for reducing cost of production. Initially, 90 Hubbard day-old chicks fed ad libitum a commercial starter feed supplying 24% crude protein and 3000 kcal of ME/kg for 4 weeks. Thereafter, they were randomly allotted to five different feed restriction programs (R0, R5, R56, R67 and R57) utilizing finisher diets supplying 19% crude protein and 2850 kcal of ME/kg from 5-8 weeks. Each program had three replicates and six birds per replicate. Unrestricted (R0) was the control where birds fed ad libitum. In R5, birds were restricted the 5th week; R56, 5th and 6th weeks; R67, 6th and 7th weeks, and R57, 5th and 7th weeks. However, all the feed-restricted birds fed ad libitum in the 8th week. Feed restriction involved feeding one-third feed intake of R0 birds starting from 14.00 to 18.00 h daily and performance parameters recorded. Feed restriction negatively affected growth performance as the severity of restriction increased. Final body weight, carcass weight, average daily gain and average daily feed intake were similar (P>0.05) for R0 and R5 but higher than R56, R67 and R57. However, feed restriction did not significantly affect (P>0.05) carcass and breast yields or feed conversion ratio except for R67, the least (P<0.05) feed efficient. Feed cost, cost of production and revenue declined as the period of restriction increased. However, profit or profit/kg live weight, economic efficiency (EE) of feed and relative EE of feed were highest for R0 followed by R5, R56, R57 and R67 in that order. Generally, birds restricted for 1 week performed better than those restricted for 2 weeks and birds restricted continuously for 2 weeks before the last week of re-alimentation and slaughter were inferior to others. These results suggest that the duration and timing of feed restriction can reduce cost in broiler meat production without seriously affecting performance or economics of production depending on the restriction program applied.


1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (100) ◽  
pp. 547 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Abu-Serewa

The productivity of heavy-, medium- and light-weight White Leghorn x Australorp pullets (216 of each strain) was established on three feed restriction regimes. The pullets were either restricted from 6 to 21 weeks of age to 80% of feed intake of pullets fed ad libitum, restricted in feeding time to 6 hours in every 48 from 6 to 21 weeks, or fed a diet containing 10% protein from day-old to 16 weeks of age. All restricted pullets ate between 19 and 37% less feed during rearing, were between 11 and 34% lighter at 21 weeks of age, and attained 50% production by 10 to 32 days later than pullets fed ad libitum. Strains differed in their responses to feed restriction as measured by mean body weight at 21 weeks, feed intake during lay, and feed per dozen eggs. Strain x rearing interactions were not observed for rate of lay, mean egg weight, total egg mass or rate of mortality. The biological responses were analyzed in economic terms using a computer simulation model. Restricting the feed intake of the heavy strain by any of these methods was more profitable, at ruling 1976 prices, than ad libitum feeding, because of the saving in feed cost and marked improvement in productivity. Performances were not improved by restriction in the light strain pullets, but feed cost was reduced by all three methods. With the medium strain, limiting the quantity of feed was more profitable than the other two methods.


1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 567 ◽  
Author(s):  
RH Weston ◽  
JP Hogan

Intake and digestion studies were conducted with sheep fed on ryegrass hay containing 6% crude protein and having an organic matter digestibility of 58%. The intake of ryegrass was little affected when additional protein was provided both as a dietary supplement and as an infusion per abomasum. When supplements containing adequate amounts of protein and minerals were given, the intake of the hay was still comparatively low at 780 g organic matter per day. Grinding and pelleting the diet of hay + supplements permitted a higher feed intake. It was concluded that feed intake was limited by the resistance of the organic matter of the hay to removal from the rumen. Digestion studies were conducted at a level of feeding equal to approximately 90% of the ad libitum intake. The quantity of organic matter apparently digested in the stomach was equal to 60% of the organic matter digested in the alimentary tract; about 80% of the digestion of fibre took place in the stomach. There was a net daily gain of 7.5 g of nitrogen during the passage of digesta through the stomach, and part of this gain appeared to be due to the passage of endogenous nitrogen into the rumen. The apparent digestibility in the intestines of nitrogen that left the stomach in digesta was 73%; 1.6 g of nitrogen was apparently digested in the intestines per 100 g organic matter intake. Values of certain parameters relating to the movement of digesta through the stomach were similar to those previously recorded with a low quality cereal hay.


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