EFFECT OF DIETS ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY WEANED HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN CALVES

1970 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-155
Author(s):  
J. D. MILLIGAN ◽  
C. M. GRIEVE

Three experiments were conducted with Holstein-Friesian calves to study the effects of diets and early weaning on body growth and development of rumen function. In the first experiment, calves fed restricted levels of milk replacer and a simple calf meal grew as fast to 120 days of age as calves fed high levels of milk replacer or a complex calf meal. When calves were fed a high-energy milk replacer and weaned at 3 weeks of age, feed consumption and growth rate to 120 days of age was comparable with that of calves fed a low-energy milk replacer and weaned at 4 weeks of age. There were no differences in digestibility of the simple and complex calf meals. Apparent coefficients of digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen and gross energy increased slightly between the 5th and 9th weeks; nitrogen retention increased from 14.9 to 29.9%. Concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (VFA) averaged 10.3 and 10.0 mmoles/100 ml rumen fluid at 5 and 9 weeks, respectively, and there were no significant changes in proportions of VFA.In the second experiment, there was no difference in feed consumption or growth rate when calves were fed the simple and complex calf meals in pelleted form.In the third experiment, concentrations of total VFA increased from 2.3 to 12.6 mmoles/100 ml rumen fluid between 6 and 37 days of age. The proportion of acetate decreased from 71.6% at 6 days to 42.9% at 37 days, while molar proportions of propionate and butyrate increased from 19.7 and 4.5% to 37.5 and 12.0%, respectively, for the same period of time. Rumen pH declined as the concentration of volatile fatty acids increased. Blood glucose levels increased from 6 to 55 days of age.

1980 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. Wernli ◽  
R. J. Wilkins

SummaryGrass silage (21.0 % D.M.) was given ad libitum to sheep together with supplements of rolled barley, dried-grass pellets or dried-grass wafers at 12 and 25 g organic matter (OM)/kg0·75.Intake of silage was greater with supplement at 12 g/kg0·75 but total intake of OM and digestible organic matter (DOM) increased with increasing supplement. Intake of OM was higher with the pellet supplement than with other supplements. Intake of DOM, however, did not differ between the pellet and barley treatments, but was lower with wafers.Concentrations of ammonia and total volatile fatty acids and the molar proportions of butyric and higher volatile fatty acids were higher when silage was supplemented with barley than with dried grass. Mean rumen retention times of silage and of supplement were highest in the barley-supplemented treatments. Dried-grass wafers were retained longer than dried-grass pellets. Supplement treatments did not differ significantly for eating and ruminating times, rumen fluid volume and pH, digestion rate in the rumen and nitrogen retention.At the low supplement rate silage consumption may have been controlled by factors associated directly with the silage, whereas at the high rate intake was limited either by physical factors or by the potential energy demand of the animals.


1964 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. G. Nicholson ◽  
H. M. Cunningham

Four experiments were conducted with sheep to compare the addition of sodium citrate and sodium propionate to pelleted and unpelleted rations and to determine the response to sodium citrate supplementation of different quality-hays. There were no significant differences in rate of gain or feed consumption of a ⅔ roughage −⅓ concentrate ration due to supplementation with sodium citrate or sodium propionate. Pelleting either the mixed ration or all-roughage rations increased feed consumption and rate of gain in all experiments. Pelleting the mixed ration decreased digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and nitrogen in the one experiment in which this was determined. Pregnant and lactating ewes lost less body weight when fed a limited amount of long hay plus pelleted hay ad libitum than similar ewes fed a standard ration of long hay ad libitum plus 0.5 lb of concentrates per day. It was necessary to feed lambs 0.5 lb of rolled barley per day with long hay ad libitum to obtain gains equal to those of similar lambs fed pelleted hay ad libitum. The addition of sodium citrate significantly increased the rate of gain of lambs fed ad libitum a slightly moldy, weathered legume hay in the pelleted form together with 0.25 lb of long hay per head per day.The addition of sodium citrate to a mixed ration or to all-roughage rations did not usually alter the proportions of rumen volatile fatty acids. The addition of sodium propionate decreased the proportion of acetic acid while increasing that of propionic acid. In both experiments where this was determined, pelleting an all-roughage ration resulted in a decrease in the proportion of acetic acid and an increase in the longer chain volatile fatty acids in rumen fluid.


1963 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-210
Author(s):  
C. M. Grieve ◽  
A. R. Robblee ◽  
L. W. McElroy

Concentrations and proportions of volatile fatty acids (VFA) were determined chromatographically in samples of rumen contents from 27 lambs and 5 mature wethers fed a control ration of alfalfa and barley or non-pelleted and pelleted test rations containing 45, 60 or 90 per cent of poor quality lowland hay in the case of lambs, and 60 or 90 per cent of test hay in the case of wethers.When the rations were fed in pelleted form, concentrations of VFA increased in rumen contents from lambs receiving 45 and 60, but not 90 per cent levels of lowland hay. In the case of the wethers, pelleting resulted in higher levels of the acids in rumen contents when either 60 or 90 per cent of test hay was fed. Pelleting had no effect on the proportions of VFA in the rumen fluid. Differences in concentration of VFA in rumen fluid were not of sufficient magnitude to account for more than a small fraction of the differences observed in feed consumption and rate and efficiency of gain of the fattening lambs fed the pelleted vs. non-pelleted rations.Concentrations of VFA were lower in rumen fluid from animals fed lowland hay than in that from animals fed the alfalfa-barley ration. As the level of lowland hay in the rations was increased the proportion of acetic acid increased, and the proportions of propionic and/or butyric acids decreased.


1979 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R. Ørskov ◽  
D. A. Grubb ◽  
G. Wenham ◽  
W. Corrigall

A technique is described for feeding young sheep for long periods entirely by the infusion of volatile fatty acids into the rumen and protein and other essential nutrients into the abomasum. When the energy infused was twice the estimated requirement for maintenance, growth rate and nitrogen retention were essentially the same as in normally-fed sheep.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1247
Author(s):  
Xin Wu ◽  
Shuai Huang ◽  
Jinfeng Huang ◽  
Peng Peng ◽  
Yanan Liu ◽  
...  

The rumen contains abundant microorganisms that aid in the digestion of lignocellulosic feed and are associated with host phenotype traits. Cows with extremely high milk protein and fat percentages (HPF; n = 3) and low milk protein and fat percentages (LPF; n = 3) were selected from 4000 lactating Holstein cows under the same nutritional and management conditions. We found that the total concentration of volatile fatty acids, acetate, butyrate, and propionate in the rumen fluid was significantly higher in the HPF group than in the LPF group. Moreover, we identified 38 most abundant species displaying differential richness between the two groups, in which Prevotella accounted for 68.8% of the species, with the highest abundance in the HPF group. Functional annotation based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG), evolutionary genealogy of genes: Non-supervised Orthologous Groups (eggNOG), and Carbohydrate-Active enzymes (CAZy) databases showed that the significantly more abundant species in the HPF group are enriched in carbohydrate, amino acid, pyruvate, insulin, and lipid metabolism and transportation. Furthermore, Spearman’s rank correlation analysis revealed that specific microbial taxa (mainly the Prevotella species and Neocallimastix californiae) are positively correlated with total volatile fatty acids (VFA). Collectively, we found that the HPF group was enriched with several Prevotella species related to the total VFA, acetate, and amino acid synthesis. Thereby, these fulfilled the host’s needs for energy, fat, and rumen microbial protein, which can be used for increased biosynthesis of milk fat and milk protein. Our findings provide novel information for elucidation of the regulatory mechanism of the rumen in the formation of milk composition.


1971 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. FISHER ◽  
J. D. ERFLE ◽  
F. D. SAUER

Glutamate, succinate, propylene glycol, or glycerol were added to a basic concentrate at 3.3% of air-dry feed. Each concentrate was fed both ad libitum and in restricted amounts to four cows in early lactation. Dietary intake, milk yield and composition, molar proportions of rumen volatile fatty acids and blood glucose, ketones and plasma free fatty acids were used as criteria of effect of these supplements. Propylene glycol in the diet resulted in a lower intake of concentrate compared with glycerol (11.44 versus 14.30 kg/day) and significantly decreased (P < 0.05) rumen butyrate and plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate. Glutamate supplementation prevented the fall in milk fat content which occurred when the other three supplemented concentrates were fed ad libitum, and this effect may have been related to the constancy in the ratio of acetate to propionate in the rumen fluid.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 2621
Author(s):  
Ludmila Couto Gomes ◽  
Claudete Regina Alcalde ◽  
Julio Cesar Damasceno ◽  
Luiz Paulo Rigolon ◽  
Ana Paula Silva Possamai ◽  
...  

Feeding goats with calcium salts of fatty acids (CSFA) can supply ruminants with lipids, with minimal effects on ruminal fermentation and fiber digestibility. However, there is a shortage of information on the effect of CSFA on characteristics of rumen fermentation in grassland goats. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the addition of CSFA to concentrate on the parameters of rumen fermentation of grazing goats. Five rumen cannulated goats were distributed in a Latin square 5x5 design (treatments: 0%, 1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5% and 6.0% CSFA. The pH, ammonia N and volatile fatty acids (VFA) content were analyzed in the ruminal fluid at 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours after concentrate supplementation. The pH and ammonia N concentration showed a linear effect with the addition of CSFA. There was no effect observed for the VFA molar concentration after grazing goats were fed with the experimental diet. In conclusion, further research is needed to investigate the addition of CSFA to goat diets because there is evidence that CSFA increases ruminal pH and decreases excess ruminal ammonia without changing the VFA concentration in the rumen fluid.


2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qendrim Zebeli ◽  
Sarah J Terrill ◽  
Alberto Mazzolari ◽  
Suzanna M Dunn ◽  
Wen Z Yang ◽  
...  

This study evaluated the effects of intraruminal administration ofMegasphaera elsdeniion ruminal fermentation patterns, the profile of plasma metabolites, and milk yield and composition of mid-lactation dairy cows. Eight primiparous, ruminally cannulated Holstein cows were arranged in a paired 2×2 crossover design. Cows were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: 1) intraruminal inoculation of 35 ml suspension per day ofM. elsdeniiATCC 25940 (MEGA), containing 108cfu/ml of bacteria, dissolved in 35 ml of saline (0·15m), or 2) carrier alone (35 ml saline; CTR). Both postprandial and preprandial rumen volatile fatty acids (VFA) and plasma metabolite measurements were analysed. Postprandial VFA patterns were affected the most, with butyrate (P<0·01) and valerate (P<0·01) proportions increasing, and acetate (P<0·01), isobutyrate (P=0·05) and isovalerate (P<0·01) decreasing in MEGA cows. Preprandial data measured at various days showed that MEGA dosage tended to increase the molar proportion of propionate (P=0·09) and lower the acetate to propionate ratio (P=0·07) in the rumen fluid. There was no effect of treatment on rumen pH and on the concentration of lactate in the rumen as well as on selected preprandial plasma metabolites. Postprandial plasma concentrations of cholesterol tended to increase (P=0·07) in MEGA cows compared with CTR. Concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in the plasma were lower in MEGA cows after the morning feeding (P<0·01). Sampling hour also affected plasma NEFA in this study. Plasma β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) were not affected by the treatment (P>0·05); however, after the morning feeding BHBA concentration was increased in both groups of cows. Dry matter intake and milk yield and composition were not affected by treatment. In conclusion, results indicate thatM. elsdeniihas the potential to modulate the rumen fermentation profile in mid-lactation Holstein cows, but these effects were only slightly reflected in changes in plasma metabolites and milk composition.


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