Feed additives for attracting sheep to eat a pelleted diet during assembly for live export

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 719 ◽  
Author(s):  
CL McDonald ◽  
JB Rowe ◽  
SP Gittins ◽  
JAW Smith

The failure of some sheep to eat pelleted feed in feedlots prior to export may result in subsequent problems in their health and welfare. We investigated ways of improving feeding behaviour by adding chaffed hay or aromatic compounds to the pelleted feed. A control ration of pellets was compared with the same diet sprayed with solutions of butyric acid, aniseed oil or molasses, or fed with chaff (lucerne or oaten). Measurements of the number of sheep eating and total feed intake were made over a 10-day period. Merino wethers from 3 properties were mixed and allocated into 2 replicate groups of 39 animals per yard (1 3 m2/sheep) for each of the 6 treatments. The patterns of feed intake over time fell into 2 distinct groups. Over 70% of sheep fed pellets with either type of chaff visited the feed trough during the first 24 hours. When no chaff was fed, this level of feeding was achieved only after 4 days. All groups fed pellets without chaff showed the same pattern of feed intake, reaching a peak intake on day 3 or 4 before reducing intake until day 6 and then an increasing intake up to day 10. Little sign of this fluctuation was seen in the animals fed pellets with chaff, suggesting that, when only pellets were fed, an unstable pattern of rumen fermentation may have caused a build-up of lactic acid in the rumen and reduced feed intake. Molasses and aniseed reduced (P<0.01) the percentage of sheep per day visiting feed troughs to 5 1 and 53% respectively (6-day mean) compared with 63 and 62% for sheep on unsprayed pellets and pellets sprayed with butyric acid. Over the 10 days, intake of total feed per sheep putting its head in the trough was 1.10 kg/day for sheep fed pellets only while aniseed caused a reduction (P<0.01) to 0.85 kg/day and lucerne chaff resulted in an increase (P< 0.05) to 1.27 kg/day. There were significant differences in the eating pattern between different sources of sheep (P< 0.001) but there were no interactions between source and dietary treatments. We conclude that adding chaffed hay to the feed troughs can maximise the proportion of sheep eating from the first day in the feedlot. In addition, mixing chaffed hay with pellets on the first few days may assist the transition from roughage to cereal based diets. The use of aromatic compounds was not successful in attracting animals to the feed or in encouraging an increased intake.

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 589 ◽  
Author(s):  
CL McDonald ◽  
JB Rowe ◽  
SP Gittins

Sheep are assembled in Australian feedlots before export and given time to adapt to the pelleted diet they will receive on board ship. In Western Australia, lupins are normally included in the diet at levels up to 30% as a source of digestible energy which is low in starch. It is also common to feed hay during assembly. We examine the use of pellets based on barley and containing either lupins or virginiamycin to overcome problems of acidosis, and the importance of hay during assembly. There were 9 dietary treatments each with 3 pens of 30 sheep. The study was conducted over 8 days simulating assembly feedlot conditions. Measurements were made of numbers of sheep visiting troughs (paint-marking technique) and accumulation of lactic acid in the rumen. 'Barley' pellets were formulated with 33% barley, 18% oats, 47% hay/straw and 2% minerals and vitamins. Replacing about half of the barley with lupins resulted in more sheep paint-marked on days 3-6 (P<0.05) and higher levels of feed intake on days 4-8 (P<0.001) than feeding pellets without lupins. The inclusion of lupins was also associated with a less pronounced drop in feed intake on day 4 than measured in sheep fed barley pellets alone. Adding virginiamycin at 40 g/t to the basal barley-based pellet also significantly increased the numbers of sheep paintmarked. Virginiamycin appeared to have a similar effect to the inclusion of lupins in terms of reducing the number of sheep which were not paint-marked. Sprinkling a small quantity of lucerne chaff onto the pellets had no effect on feeding behaviour. The use of hay in racks resulted in fewer sheep (3 v. 12%, P<0.05) not eating during the first 3 days but there was no significant effect thereafter. We concluded that the inclusion of either lupins or virginiamycin is effective in improving the adaptation to cereal-based pellets in export feedlots. The use of hay either in racks or sprinkled over the pellets appears to be of limited value.


2001 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 165-167
Author(s):  
S. A. Abd El-Latif

SummaryThis experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of adding some herbal feed additives (HF A) [thyme (T, Thymus Vulgaris L.), dianthus (D, Delphinum Ajaews), and fennel (F, Foeniculum Vulgare L.)] at a level of 10g/kg to Japanese quail diets on performance and some metabolic functions. Adding HFA to the control diet improved (P<0.05) body gain, feed intake and feed conversion (feed/gain) efficiency. The birds fed dietary F additive exhibited the best (P<0.05) values of these parameters during the entire period (0 to 6 weeks of age), compared with other dietary treatments. There was an improvement (P<0.05) in total protein, globulin, and albumin for birds fed dietary T or F at six weeks of age. Birds fed on dietary F recorded the lowest (P<0.05) value of these components compared with other dietary treatments.


1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
EM Aitchison ◽  
K Tanaka ◽  
JB Rowe

The feed additives flavomycin, a glycolipid antibiotic, and tetronasin, an ionophore, were evaluated for their ability to improve wool growth and liveweight gains in Merino sheep. Each was included in 2 diets: one was a pelleted mixture of (g/kg) lucerne (590), lupins (250) and barley (1 50); the other diet was wheaten chaff. Flavomycin was included in each diet at 10 and 20 mg/kg feed; tetronasin at 5 and 10 mg/kg feed. During an 8-week experimental period, the diets were fed ad libitum to weaner Merino wethers, with 15 sheep receiving each treatment diet at each level of additive inclusion, and 30 sheep receiving each diet without additives. Liveweight changes, feed intake and wool growth were measured over 2 consecutive 4-week periods, and rumen fluid samples were taken from all sheep after 6 weeks. Feed intake, liveweight gain and wool growth rate were all higher for animals eating the pelleted diets compared with those eating chaff. Rumen volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia (NH3) concentrations were also higher with the pelleted diet. On the pelleted diet, flavomycin and tetronasin inclusion significantly increased liveweight gains during the second 4-week period (296, 277, 231 g/sheep.day for flavomycin, tetronasin and controls respectively, P<0.001), but neither additive had any significant effect on feed intake. The amount of clean wool grown during both measurement periods was greater for animals receiving flavomycin or tetronasin with the pelleted diet compared with control animals. Neither additive had any significant effect on liveweight gains or wool growth of sheep eating chaff. Fibre diameter (FD) was measured on wool clipped in the second period, and was not significantly altered by either additive: mean FDs for animal receiving pellets were 25.1 �m, compared with 18.5 �m for animals receiving chaff. Total rumen VFA concentrations were lower with flavomycin or tetronasin treatments on both diets, and ammonia concentrations were lower with both additives on the pelleted diet and with tetronasin on the chaff diet. It is concluded that both flavomycin and tetronasin were able to increase liveweight gains and wool growth in rapidly growing sheep eating a high-protein diet, but had little or no consistent effects with animals eating a lower quality, low-protein diet.


Author(s):  
M. Imran ◽  
S. Ahmed ◽  
Y. A. Ditta ◽  
S. Mehmood ◽  
Z. and M.W. Zia Rasool ◽  
...  

The effect of microencapsulated butyric acid (MEBA) on growth performance, ileal digestibility (ID) of protein, gut health and immunity was assessed in broilers. A total of 336 d-old Hubbard Classic broilers chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments (Control, 0.25, 0.35 and 0.45 g/kg of MEBA). Each treatment was replicated three times with 28 birds/replicate. Feed intake, body weight gain, FCR, intestinal morphology, ID of protein and immunity was evaluated. At 35-d of age, three birds/replicate were randomly selected and slaughtered to collect blood, duodenal samples, and ileal digesta. The Improved body weight gain (P = 0.05), FCR (P less than 0.01), duodenal villous height (P less than 0.05) and ID (P less than 0.1) were observed; whereas, unresponsive treatment effect with respect to feed intake (P>0.5) and antibody titer against Newcastle disease (P>0.05) were noted. The results indicated that MEBA improves digestion and absorptive processes which consequently improved the broilers performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil Otowski ◽  
Aleksandra Drażbo ◽  
Katarzyna Ognik ◽  
Krzysztof Kozłowski

AbstractThe aim of this study was to determine whether dietary supplementation with zinc oxide nanoparticales (NP-ZnO) as a substitute for the conventional ZnO affects the intestinal digestibility of selected minerals, growth performance and meat quality in turkeys. The replacement of ZnO with NP-ZnO had no effect on the intestinal digestibility of Zn, Cu, Fe and Ca, whereas the lowest dose of supplemental Zn reduced Zn digestibility. The applied inclusion levels and sources of Zn had no effect on the growth performance (except the feed intake) of turkeys, including liveability. No differences in the relative weights of the heart, spleen and bursa of Fabricius (except the liver), or the weights of the femur and tibia were found between the dietary treatments. Neither the dose nor the source of supplemental Zn influenced carcass dressing percentage or the share of breast, thigh and drumstick muscles in the carcass. In comparison with the highest and moderate doses of Zn, the lowest inclusion level of Zn contributed to increased yellowness of breast meat (P=0.005). The analyzed doses and sources of supplemental Zn exerted varied effects on the redox status of fresh and frozen breast meat. In conclusion, the growth performance of turkeys, carcass yield and composition as well as the redox status of fresh and frozen breast meat were generally similar, regardless of the dietary source and level of Zn. The beneficial effect of Zn addition at 100 mg/kg was improved Zn and Ca digestibility, and increased redness of breast meat.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 187-188
Author(s):  
Pengcheng Xue ◽  
Don W Giesting ◽  
Mark D Newcomb ◽  
Chad M Pilcher ◽  
Matthew J Ritter

Abstract This study was conducted at a commercial research facility and utilized 1,092 finishing pigs (PIC® 337 × Camborough®) in a RCBD with 3 dietary treatments to determine the effects of commercially available phytogenic feed additives on growth performance traits in finishing swine for the last 35 d prior to marketing. The dietary treatments were as follows: 1) Control; 2) Aromex Pro® (AP; Delacon) fed at 0.01%; and 3) Ambitine® (AM; PMI) fed at 0.1%. Pens with 13 pigs/pen and 0.66 m2/pig were randomly allotted to treatments on the basis of live weight and gender. Pigs had ad libitum access to corn-soy diets that met or exceeded the pig’s requirements (NRC, 2012). Aromex Pro® and Ambitine® were added to the diets at the expense of corn. Dietary treatments started on day 0 (BW = 97.7 kg; SEM = 1.04) and were fed throughout the 35 d trial period. On d 21, the two heaviest pigs per pen were marketed, while the remaining pigs in each pen were marketed on d 35. Pigs and feeders were weighed on d 0, 21, and 35. Data were analyzed by using PROC MIXED of SAS® version 9.4, and pen was the experimental unit. The model included the fixed effect of treatment and random effect of replicate. Pre-planned orthogonal contrasts were used to compare AP vs. Control and AM vs. Control. Feeding AP or AM for the last 35 d in finishing both improved (P &lt; 0.05) ADG by 4%, ADFI by 3% and final BW by 1.6 kg over Control, but did not change feed to gain or mortality. These data demonstrate that phytogenic feed additives can improve growth performance traits in finishing swine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 101-102
Author(s):  
Kelsey L Batson ◽  
Hilda I Calderon Cartagena ◽  
Robert D Goodband ◽  
Jason C Woodworth ◽  
Mike D Tokach ◽  
...  

Abstract A total of 109 sows (Line 241; DNA, Columbus, NE) were used in a study to evaluate the effect of increasing phytase concentration in lactation diets on sow and litter performance. On d 107 of gestation, sows were blocked by body weight and parity and allotted to 1 of 3 dietary treatments of increasing phytase concentration (0, 1,000, or 3,000 FYT/kg; Ronozyme HiPhos 2700; DSM Nutritional Products, Inc., Parsippany, NJ). The control diet contained no phytase and was formulated to contain 0.50% standardized total tract digestible phosphorus (STTD P; 0.45% available P) and 0.62% STTD calcium (0.90% total Ca). The same STTD P and Ca concentrations were formulated for the phytase diets considering a release of 0.132 STTD P and 0.094 STTD Ca in both diets. Diets were fed from d 107 of gestation until weaning (d 18 ± 2). Litters were cross-fostered within treatment until 48 h post-farrowing to equalize litter size. Linear and quadratic response to phytase concentration was evaluated using the lmer function in R. There was no evidence for difference in sow body weight change, farrowing performance, wean-to-estrus interval, or litter size among dietary treatments. Sow average daily feed intake from farrowing to weaning tended to increase (linear, P=0.093) as phytase increased. Although not significant (linear, P =0.226), farrowing duration decreased as phytase increased. Litter weaning weight increased (quadratic, P=0.039) and overall litter gain increased (quadratic, P=0.047) with 1,000 FYT of phytase. In summary, sow feed intake tended to increase linearly with increasing phytase; however, feeding 1,000 FYT/kg maximized overall litter gain and weaning weight. This small-scale study suggests sow and litter performance benefits due to high inclusions of dietary phytase; however, a commercial trial with more sows is warranted to confirm these results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 172-172
Author(s):  
Ricardo M Garcia ◽  
Morgan T Thayer ◽  
Kayla M Mills ◽  
Jacob A Richert ◽  
Katharine G Sharp ◽  
...  

Abstract Lactating sows (N=140, York x Landrace) were used to evaluate the effects of a liquid prototype (LIQP) and dry (XPC®; Diamond V) Saccharomyces cerevisiae feed additives on sow and litter performance. Sows were fed a common gestation diet (0.55% SID-Lysine) until d112 of pregnancy and then allotted to lactation treatments: 1) Control diet (CON; 1.00% SID-Lysine), 2) CON +15 mL of LIQP from d112 to weaning (LIQ), 3) CON +0.20% of XPC from d112 to weaning (DRY), and 4) DRY +15 mL of LIQP from d112 to d7 post-farrowing (D+L). The LIQP was given once daily using an oral dose gun and XPC was included in the feed. Immunoglobulin concentrations were estimated on colostrum samples using Brix refractometer and piglet d 1 serum immunocrit ratio and plasma IgA and IgG. Daily sow water intake and daily feed intake (DFI) from d112 of gestation to d7 post-farrowing and weekly feed intake (ADFI) were recorded. There were no treatment effects on sow BW, backfat, or loin depth (P &gt;0.05) although sows from LIQ group had numerically smaller BW reductions compared to CON sows (4.9% vs 7.2%, P=0.19). LIQ sows had greater DFI and CON lower DFI during week 1 of lactation (P=0.04) as well as ADFI for weeks 2, 3, and overall lactation period (P&lt; 0.01) with DRY and D+L sows being intermediate. Water intake, immunoglobulins, and litter performance did not differ among treatments (P &gt;0.05) although pigs from LIQ sows, compared to CON, had numerically increased weaning (6.14 vs 5.82kg, P &gt;0.05) and litter weights (63.2 vs 60.1kg, P &gt;0.05). LIQ sows had 0.7 d reduced wean-to-estrus interval (P&lt; 0.001) and tended to have greater conception rates (P=0.07). In conclusion, LIQ supplementation of lactating sows improves feed intake, allowing sows to keep body reserves, and have better subsequent rebreeding performance.


1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 647
Author(s):  
RT Norris ◽  
CL McDonald ◽  
JB Rowe

The accuracy with which monensin could control feed intake was studied in 200 3-4-year-old Merino wethers by measuring their intake of pelleted diets containing 5 levels of monensin: 0, 33, 66, 132 or 264 mg/kg of feed. The feed was offered ad libitum for 25 days except for the highest level of monensin where treatment was ended after 12 days.Mean daily intakes (g/sheep) of diets containing monensin at 0, 33, 66, 132 or 264 mg/kg feed were 1304, 959, 793, 403 and 137 respectively. Mean daily feed intake (Y, g) was negatively and linearly related to concentration of monensin (X, mg/kg feed) Y = 1244 - 6.57X (r2=0.98; P<0.05) Similarly there was a close negative relationship between the concentration of monensin (X, mg/kg feed) and daily liveweight change (Z, g/sheep) during the trial Z = 217 - 2.61X (r2=0.99; P< 0.01) From this relationship, maintenance of liveweight would have been achieved with a diet containing monensin at about 80 mg/kg feed. Signs of toxicity including deaths occurred in sheep receiving diets containing monensin at 66, 132 and 264 mg/kg feed. It was concluded that monensin could be used to restrict feed intake but further research is necessary to determine safe levels.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
BA Makanjuola ◽  
OO Obi ◽  
TO Olorungbohunmi ◽  
OA Morakinyo ◽  
BA Boladuro ◽  
...  

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of an acidifier as an alternative to antibiotics on the performance and gut morphology of broiler chickens. One hundred and eighty (180) 7-day old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 3 dietary treatments of 4 replicates each. Each replicate had 15 birds. The diets fed to the birds were: Treatment 1- diet with neither antibiotic nor acidifier; Treatment 2- diet with antibiotic and Treatment 3- diet with acidifier. The antibiotic used was Enrofloxacin which was administered to the birds on Treatment 2 via their drinking water while the acidifier used was Biotronic SE (a combination of propionic and formic acids) which was added to the diet of birds on Treatment 3 at the rate of 4kg/tonne of feed. The experiment lasted 42 days. No significant differences were observed in the feed intake, final weight and weight gain of the birds on the different diets. Significant differences were however observed in the villus height in the duodenum and ileum of the birds. The crypt depth values in the different segments of the small intestines of the birds were not significantly affected by the different treatments.Key words: Organic acids, Biotronic SE, Enrofloxacin, Crypt, villus.


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