Performance of steers fed grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) of varying sorghum midge (Contarinia sorghicola) resistance

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
DB Strachan ◽  
RD Dillon ◽  
RG Henzell

This experiment examined the association between the level of sorghum midge resistance of a grain sorghum hybrid and its ultilisation by cattle. Twenty-five Hereford steers were placed in individual pens and fed a feedlot ration (80% grain) for 8 weeks containing 1 of the following grain sorghum hybrids: Pacific 810, DK55plus (susceptible to midge); Barrier (low resistance to midge); AQL39/QL36, DK470 (moderate resistance to midge). There was no significant (P>0.05) difference between the hybrids in dry matter intake, liveweight gain, feed conversion efficiency, apparent nitrogen digestibility, and digestibility of the dry matter. No tannins were detected in the grain of any of the hydrids. It was concluded that the development of grain sorghum hybrids resistant to sorghum midge will not affect the utilisation of the grain in steers.

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Santra ◽  
S. Parthasarathy ◽  
S. A. Karim

The efficacy of sodium laurel sulfate as a defaunating agent, as well as effect of defaunation on body confirmation changes, wool yield and fibre characteristics, were evaluated in growing lambs in a 90-day feeding experiment. Forty-five Malpura male weaner (90-day old) lambs were divided into three equal groups: defaunated, refaunated and faunated. The lambs of defaunated and refaunated groups were defaunated by oral administration of sodium laurel sulfate at the rate of 8 g/100 kg liveweight as a 10% aqueous solution. Six days after defaunation, all the lambs of the refaunated group were refaunated by inoculation of 100 mL rumen content per lamb drawn from a normal faunated sheep. All the experimental lambs were maintained under stall feeding on a complete feed containing 50 : 50 Pala (Ziziphus nummularia) leaf and concentrate. Treatments did not differ in intake of dry matter, digestible crude protein or digestible energy. Body height and paunch girth were greater (P < 0.01) in defaunated compared to refaunated and faunated lambs. With similar dry matter intake in the three experimental groups, liveweight gain, feed conversion efficiency and wool yield were higher (P < 0.01) in defaunated lambs. The wool fibre diameter and medullation percentage were higher (P < 0.01) in defaunated than refaunated and faunated lambs. It was concluded from the study that, with similar dry matter intake and plane of nutrition, the growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and wool yield were higher in defaunated lambs, as compared to refaunated and faunated lambs. Higher paunch girth in defaunated lambs resulted in a pot-bellied appearance of the animals.


Author(s):  
P. M. Lunagariya ◽  
R. Shukla ◽  
S. V. Shah ◽  
P. R. Pandya ◽  
S. S. Pandya ◽  
...  

An experiment was conducted on HF x Kankrej crossbred calves to study the effect of formulated milk replacer on nutrients intake, feed conversion efficiency, cost of feeding and disease incidence. Eighteen newly born calves of either sex were selected. The calves were fed colostrum up to 3 days and from 4th to 9th day whole milk at the rate of 12.5% of body weight. From 10th day the calves were randomly distributed in to three treatment group. The calves of T1 group received whole milk as per routine farm practice; T2 group was fed whole milk and commercial milk replacer as per manufacturer’s recommendation, whereas T3 group calves received formulated milk replacer @ 12.5 % of body weight with upper limit of 4 kg per day. The overall initial (day 10) and final (day 94) body weight of calves were 27.71±6.53 and 44.96±10.60 kg, respectively. Overall average dry matter intake (DMI) per day, as per cent body weight and per kg metabolic body weight (W0.75) was 0.52±0.02 kg, 1.45±0.03 kg and 35.34±0.78 g, respectively. The dry matter intake in T1 was significantly higher followed by T2 than T3. Overall intake of total digestible nutrients (TDN) on daily, per cent body weight and per kg W0.75 basis was 0.546±0.02 kg, 1.28±0.04 kg and 31.03±0.87 g, respectively. The DM intake for each kg gain was significantly lower in T3 (3.07 kg) and T1 (3.02) than T2 (4.79 kg) calves. The feed conversion efficiency (TDN intake kg/kg gain) was significantly superior in T3 (2.22) followed by T2 (4.23), whereas in T1 (2.95) it was intermediate. The feed cost and total rearing cost were lower (p less than 0.05) for farm formulated milk replacer (T3) than commercial milk replacer (T2) and was highest for milk feeding (T1) group. The feed cost and total rearing cost per unit gain in weight were also lower (p less than 0.05) for farm formulated milk replacer (T3) than other two groups. The disease incidences were intermediate in farm formulated milk replacer (T3). Thus, raising crossbred calves on farm formulated milk replacer can be a better option for economic gain of farmers, health of calves and (sparing) more milk for humans.


2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 645 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Beever ◽  
P. T. Doyle

This paper focuses on dairy herd performance in the United Kingdom and southern Australia, where feed costs have been estimated to comprise between 40 and 67% of the total costs of production. The efficiency of conversion of grazed pasture, home grown forages and purchased feeds into milk has a major bearing on farm profit. Feed conversion efficiency (FCE), defined as ‘kg milk of standardised composition with respect to protein and fat concentrations produced per kg feed dry matter consumed’, is a useful measure of the performance of a farm feeding system, but is seldom used by dairy farmers. It could also be defined as ‘g protein plus fat produced per kg feed dry matter consumed’, given that farmers are often paid for these components. The value of estimating FCE on an annual or shorter-term basis is discussed in relation to accepted principles of feed utilisation and dairy cow energy requirements. The implications of feed intake, conversion of ingested nutrients into absorbed nutrients and the subsequent utilisation of these nutrients for milk production or other purposes, as well as the effects of stage of lactation on FCE, are reviewed. Measuring FCE and identifying opportunities for improvement is relatively straightforward in housed feeding systems, but is more problematic under grazing. Hence, approaches and the key assumptions in estimating FCE in grazing situations, as well as possible limitations of these estimates, are discussed. Finally, a case study examining the potential impact of improved nutritional strategies on FCE and on margin over feed costs is presented. It is concluded that, to remain profitable, dairy farmers need to have a sound knowledge of cow nutrition, along with appropriate measures of FCE to monitor the performance of their milk production system. Such indicators of the biological performance of the farming system are most useful when used in conjunction with appropriate measures of economic performance.


1992 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-278
Author(s):  
Alem Tsehai Tesfa ◽  
Mikko Tuori ◽  
Liisa Syrjälä-Qvist

This paper presents animal performance and carcass quality in an experiment conducted to observe the effect of replacing some of the barley in a concentrate mixture with different fat sources and wheat bran. The treatments were: concentrate mixture with no added fat (control); in the test feeds, some of the barley was replaced with 5 % of a fat source plus 10 % wheat bran, 1 % wheat molasses and 1 % Ca-lignosulphonate. The fat sources were rapeseed oil (RSO), calcium salt palm fatty acids (CaSFA), or tallow (TS). These four concentrate mixtures were fed to growing bulls with hay (45:55) at a rate of 85 g dry matter kg-1 metabolic body weight (W0.75). Partial replacement of barley with different fat sources slightly decreased dry matter intake and thereby reduced the daily intake of estimated metabolizable energy in all fat containing diets. Average daily weight gain was 1.20; 1.05; 1.05 and 1.08 kg for the control as to RSO; CaSFA and TS, respectively. Carcass weight was similar for all fat sources but slightly higher for the control diet, while dressing percentage was slightly lower for the control diet. Feeding RSO, TS or CaSFA had no effect on feed conversion efficiency in comparison to the control. No apparent difference was observed between treatments on carcass quality and palatability scores of the meat. Oleic and stearic acids were increased for RSO and TS containing diets as compared to the control and CaSFA containing diets.


1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (96) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
FD Page

Standardized levels of infestation of sorghum midge Contarinia sorghicola Coquillet were used to compare the levels of resistance in sorghum cultivars (Sorghum bicolor) in glasshouse experiments at Biloela in Central Queensland. Sorghum heads were reduced to 250 florets and ten female midges were caged over each head on three consecutive days during anthesis. Two breeding lines from the U.S.A., IS 12608C and IS 12664C were superior (P < 0.01) to Alpha and KS 19 in percentage seed set and number of midge progeny produced. The percentage seed set was 50, 54, 22, 12 for IS 12608C, IS 1664C, Alpha and KS 19, respectively. The Indian line Q 13828 was susceptible. Testing with a standardized level of infestation is a useful technique for screening parents in a breeding program aimed at incorporation of midge resistance into agronomically useful hybrid cultivars.


1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
BA Franzmann ◽  
DG Butler

The relationship between percentage seed set on grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) panicles damaged by sorghum midge, Contarinia sorghicola (Coquillett), and percentage compensation (percentage increase in weight) of undamaged seed was examined in 11 experiments covering a wide range of environmental variation and incorporating various sorghum midge susceptible and resistant genotypes. In contrast to previous findings where negative compensation was found after sorghum midge damage, compensation was generally positive, but the slope of the response with respect to seed set changed from positive to negative as seed set increased to >30-50%. Expression of the relationship was similar for susceptible and resistant genotypes. The slope of the relationship for seed sets above the point of maximum compensation was -0.51 for sorghum midge susceptible hybrids, -0.42 for resistant genotypes (various lines and hybrids), and -0.38 for resistant hybrid ATx2755/RTx2767. The pooled slope was -0.45.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
A. B. J. Aina

A 70-day feeding trial was conducted to estimate the effect of levels (0, 5, 10, and 15g/kg cassava peels, respectively) of common salt and cassava peels (dry and fresh using Gmelina arborea leaves as a basal diet on the average daily gain, dry matter intake, seed conversion efficiency and water consumption in West African Dwarf goats. Total dry matter intake and the average Gmelina arborea leaf intake increased with applied common salt, irrespective of cassava peel form. Increasing common salt level also increased average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency in both dry and fresh cassava peels, but this was not accompanied by a remarkable gain beyond 5g common salt. Moreover, the average cassava peel intake increased but not significantly (P>0.05) with salt level up to 10g beyond which there was a sharp decline and an insignificant gain with dry and fresh cassava peels, respectively. Goats fed dry cassava peels  significantly (P<0.05) consumed more water as the salt level increased in the diet. It was concluded that application of 5g common salt per kg dry cassava peels promoted highest daily gain, optimum dry matter intake and feed conversion efficiency in West African Dwarf goal production. However, the response with fresh cassava peels revealed no statistically significant difference in average daily gain, total dry matter intake and feed conversion efficiency. 


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