Neonate ruminants possess little cell-wall and starch degrading enzyme activity. Importantly, early establishment of fibrolytic, amylolytic, and proteolytic capacities is influential for the early expansion of the reticulorumen epithelia. Such an early development in reticulorumen fermentation will enable a timely hepatic adaptation to volatile fatty acids assimilation. The early nutrient release in the reticulorumen can thus facilitate early weaning, reduce labor costs, save milk, and lessen health issues associated with late weaning. The principal objectives of this review are to delineate roles of exogenous, polysaccharidases (EP) in stimulating fermentation development of the reticulorumen in young ruminants, to discuss the literature on nutrient digestibility and calf performance response to dietary EPs, and to provide insights into future possibilities for using dietary EP for young ruminants. Evidence has been increasing that cow milk may reduce the risk of cancer development and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, nutritional implications for humans of supplementing calf diets with EP and its potential for milk savings is also discussed. Dietary incentives leading to savings in milk would aid in meeting the rising human demands for well-distributed milk products. Applying EP to both pre- and post-weaning starters would need to be evaluated before EP could be commercially expected for young ruminants on a large scale. Any benefits of nutritional strategies to the animal industry must also consider their implications for human health. As such, dietary use of EP for young ruminants may be considered as an interface of animal nutrition, farm economics, and animal-human health. پرونده مقاله

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two dietary metabolizable protein (MP) concentrations on the performance and health status of Afshari ewes and survival and growth of their lambs during late pregnancy. For 6 weeks prior to lambing, 32 Afshari ewes were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments, containing low (LMP) or high (HMP) MP concentrations. The ewes in LMP (n=16) and in the HMP (n=16) were individually fed with isoenergetic (2.39 Mcal ME/kg DM) diets that contained 99.4 and 116.5 g crude protein (CP) and 70.5 g and 84.6 g MP/kg dry matter (DM) respectively. The concentration of MP in the late pregnancy diet did not affect changes in body weight and body condition score of ewes as well as blood glucose, total protein, non-esterified free fatty acids (NEFA), b-hydroxy butyrate (bHBA), insulin concentrations, insulin sensitivity and total number of white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC) and other blood cells. Similarly, the amounts and composition of colostrum obtained during the first 24 h after lambing were not affected by MP level. It was concluded that increasing the MP content of the diet for 6 weeks prior to lambing above the standard requirements resulted in no benefit in terms of the productive performance and health indices of twin-bearing ewes and their offspring. پرونده مقاله