The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a partial substitution of soybean meal with field pea (Pisum sativum) in Holstein lactating dairy cow diets on dry matter intake, milk yield and composition, blood metabolites, rumen ammonia-N concentration and pH. Eighteen lactating Holstein cows were randomly assigned into three groups based on parity, days in milk, and milk yield. Flaked field peas replaced soybean meal (SBM) at the levels of 0.0, 33 and 66% (P0, P33 and P66, respectively) and were fed to the animals for 33 days. Dry matter intake, milk yield, milk fat and protein content, blood metabolites, rumen ammonia-N concentration and pH were not significantly (P<0.05) affected by the diets. The results of this study demonstrated that field pea could safely replace soybean meal up to 66% in the diet of high-producing dairy cows. پرونده مقاله

Holstein calves were fed pelleted starter diets with crude protein (CP) concentrations of 18%, 22% and 24% per dry matter (DM) containing soybean meal (SBM) (SBM18, SBM20 and SBM24), respectively, for 10 weeks from 14 days of age. Another diet with a CP concentration of 18% per DM was tested using commercial xylose-soybean meal (XSB; Yasminomax) instead of SBM. Each diet was fed to 24 calves and the feed consumption, nutrient intake, body weight (BW) gain, skeletal growth and selected blood metabolites were determined. Weaned animals were kept under observation for economic characteristics such as post-weaning (days 84 to 196) weight gain, withers height, weight at first heat, number of services per pregnancy and milk yield during first lactation. The average daily starter consumption was highest in calves fed SBM20. The average BW gain and total DM intake were highest in calves fed SBM20. Feed efficiency was highest in calves fed SBM24, but protein efficiency was highest in calves fed SBM20. A decreased blood glucose and increased blood insulin concentrations were observed in calves fed SBM18. Blood urea N and blood glucose were highest in calves fed SBM24. The service rate, age at first parturition and milk yield varied according to diet (p <0.001). پرونده مقاله

The objective of the present experiment was to quantify the gas production parameters, methane emission and microbial nitrogen production of a conventional total mixed ration including corn silage, alfalfa hay, wheat straw and concentrate (390, 110, 22 and 478 g/kg of diet DM, respectively) treated with different levels of Natuzyme® and pre-incubation time after enzyme administration. Two hundred fifty mg of milled and dried basal diet (n=4) was weighed into a 125 mL serum bottles for an in vitro gas production trial. A solution of a commercial enzyme blend (Natuzyme®) was added at 0, 12 and 24 h prior to starting the incubation (96 h) to make treatments of 0.84, 1.68 and 2.52 g/kg, respectively. No added enzyme bottles were considered as control. Half time of gas production (t1/2) was calculated. Then, another gas test was run for each treatment and terminated at t1/2 to measure gas volume, methane emission and solid residues. Dose rate of Natuzyme® did not make any significant differences in gas production parameters and fermentation responses except for microbial nitrogen production. Pre-treatment of the basal diet at 24 h incubation significantly (P<0.05) lowered dry matter degradability and accumulated gas, but percentage and amount of produced methane, produced methane by mg degraded dry matter and microbial nitrogen production was significantly increased. Twelve and twenty four h pre-treatment of the basal diet significantly (P<0.05) increased accumulated gas by 16% and 8%, respectively. However, fractional constant rate was significantly (P<0.05) decreased by 31% and 13%, respectively, using twelve and twenty four h pre-treatment of the basal diet. However, a specific pre-treatment time must be taken into consideration to allow the enzyme mixture to bind to the feed particles. پرونده مقاله

The effect of essential oils (EO) of medical plant seeds and spices on rumen microbial fermentation of alfalfa hay, sugar beet pulp and barley grain (as substrate) were evaluated under in vitro conditions. In vitro incubations were carried out using the gas production method with glass syringes. Treatments were as follows; a control (no additive), monensin, EO of cinnamon, black pepper seed, cumin seed, fennel seed and garlic oil (200 and 400 µL/g DM). Monensin was used as a positive control in the medium at 5 µmol. Data on gas production were fitted using an exponential equation. Results showed that compared to control treatments, monensin had a significant increase on gas production (P<0.05), and cumin seed EO decreased gas production of the feed samples (200 and 400 µL). The effects of treatments on in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics were tested using an in vitro culture inoculated by mixed rumen microbes. The test treatments were as follows; control (no additive), EO of cinnamon, black pepper seed, cumin seed and fennel seed. Evaluations were made for medium pH, ammonia nitrogen concentration and dry matter disappearance after a 48 h incubation period. To evaluate the effect of EO on in vitro ruminal fungi populations, a sample was taken from the medium after a 120 h incubation period and fungal population was determination by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Compared to the control treatment, cumin and cinnamon additions resulted in a significant decrease (P<0.05) on disappearance of dry matter in the feed samples. In the present study, additions of all tested EO to alfalfa hay treatment showed a significant increase in the final pH of the culture (P<0.05). However, cinnamon addition resulted in a significant decrease in medium ammonia nitrogen concentration for each of the feed samples (P<0.05). Results of the present study also demonstrate that addition all of the tested EO to alfalfa hay had a significantly decrease on in vitro ruminal fungal population (P<0.05). پرونده مقاله

The aim of present study was to assess the effects of individual various essential plant oils on chemical composition, aerobic stability and fermentation characteristics of corn silage and in vitro rumen fermentation and methane emission using gas production technique. Whole crop corn was harvested and ensiled in laboratory scale tubes (4±0.25 kg) for 45 days. Treatments consisted of either corn silage with no additive (control) or treated with 120 or 240 mg kg-1 DM of cinnamon (Cinn120 or Cinn240, respectively), thyme (Thy120 or Thy240, respectively), mint (Mint120 or Mint240, respectively), oregano (Oreg120 or Oreg240, respectively) or cumin (Cum120 or Cum240, respectively). Treatments were compared with control using the Dunnett test at (P<0.05). Silages treated with cinnamon essential oil had higher DM content compared with the control (P<0.05). The pH value of Mint240 was significantly lower than the control (P<0.05). A significant reduction in ammonia nitrogen concentration of silages treated with thyme essential oil was observed in comparison to the control (P<0.05). Relative to the control, all of applied additives except of mint essential oil caused a significant improvement in silage aerobic stability (ranging from 44% to 400% increment). At 24 h in vitro rumen post incubation, total produced gas from Oreg240 was diminished significantly (P<0.05) compared with the control (44.23 vs. 48.73 mL 250 mg-1 DM). When compared to the control, all treated silages except of Mint240 or Oreg120 produced higher methane during 24 h incubation (P<0.05). However, the ratio of methane to total gas was not affected by experimental treatments (P>0.05). In vitro dry matter disappearance of Thy120, Mint240 or Oreg240 increased by 10 percent compared with the control (P<0.05). Moreover, partitioning factor of Oreg240 was higher than the control (P<0.05). Results demonstrated the potential of applied essential oils to improve chemical composition, dry matter degradability and aerobic stability of corn silage. پرونده مقاله

An experiment was carried out to evaluate how interactions between forage to concentrate ratio and dietary crude protein level may alter nitrogen efficiency and UT-B expression in growing Baluchi male lambs. Four Baluchi male lambs [30 ± 2 kg BW] were used in a 4 × 4 latin square design with 28-d periods and a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of dietary treatments. The treatments fed forage: concentrate [FC; DM basis] ratios of 45:55 low concentrate (LC) or 25:75 high concentrate (HC) with dietary levels of CP of 14 low protein (LP) or 18% high protein (HP) [CP, DM basis]. Dry matter intake increased as dietary concentrate level increased. Treatments, dietary CP content and F: C ratio had significant effect on CP intake. Increasing dietary N content of the diet increased dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and organic matter (OM) digestibility. Forage to concentrate ratio had a significant effect on neutral detergent fiber(NDF) and OM digestibility. Treatments had significant effect on the CP, NDF and OM digestibility. There were an interaction between dietary CP content and F: C ratio on the ruminal pH, NH3-N concentration, individual volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration, acetate: propionate ratio and BUN concentration. Except ruminal pH, all ruminal fermentation and blood metabolitefactors were affected by both dietaryCP content and F: C ratio in trial.Treatments had significant influence on the NI (g/d) and urinary N excretion (g/d) (% of N intake). Also, both dietary CP content and F: C ratio had significant effect on NI. The lambs consume high crude protein treatments tended to have greater urinary N excretion (g/d) than those consume low crude protein treatments. The F: C ratio had a significant effect on urinary N excretion (g/d). Approximately 6.56 times more UT-B was expressed by the rumen ventral sac for lambs on the treatments contain 18% crude protein relative to those on the treatments contain 14% crude protein. In conclusion this study shows that changes in characteristic of the diet produce significant changes in UT-B urea transporter expression within the ovine rumen. Changing urea entry into the GIT via dietary regulation of UT-B could serve as important mechanism to maintenance of nitrogen balance and increase nitrogen efficiency in Baluchi growing lambs. Our findings suggest that the dietary regulation of urea transporters plays a major role in altering urea entry into the gastrointestinal tract. پرونده مقاله

The aim of this study was to determine possible differences between first cut and second cut forage of Birjand ecotype of Kochia scoparia for chemical composition and fermentability, and to evaluate the changes may be induced by N fertilization in chemical composition, fermentability, and utilizable crude protein (uCP) supply at the duodenum of dairy cows of Sabzevar ecotype of Kochia. Birjand ecotype was sampled in mid bloom and Sabzevar ecotype was sampled in first bloom stage of maturity. Different in vitro gas production methods were used to determine gas production kinetics and uCP and effective uCP (EuCP) supply of the forage samples. Results of the first experiment showed that there is no significant difference between first cut and second cut forage of Kochia scoparia for gas production kinetics (P>0.05), but significantly lower content (g/kg DM basis) of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (451.1) and hemicellulose (233.7) and higher content of CP (100.1) and ash (133.4) were observed in the first cut than those of the second cut plants (P<0.01). The results of second experiment indicated that the application of moderate levels of the N fertilizer (115 kg N/hectare) on Sabzevar stands of Kochia scoparia induced considerable changes in chemical composition, fermentability, and protein degradability of forge, so that, dry matter (DM), NDF, and hemicellulose declined and CP and ash content of forage increased (P<0.05). Moreover, the gas production kinetics decreased and supplied amounts of uCP and EuCP increased in association with increase in CP and true protein content (P<0.05). پرونده مقاله

The present research was conducted aimed at using the approach involving the in vitro tests to evaluate effect by various inorganic buffers used in the diets of Holstein dairy cow on the dietary buffering capacity, ruminal acidogenecity value (AV), methane emission and assess the relationship between them. The buffers were sodium bicarbonate (SB), sodium sesquicarbonate (SSc), a commercial buffer [BEHINAÒ, (BH)], and potassium carbonate (PC). Basal diets were low forage [30% forage and 70% concentrate, (FC30:70)], mid forage [35% forage and 65% concentrate, (FC35:65)], and high forage [40% forage and 60% concentrate, (FC40:60)]. The buffers were added to the diets in the concentrations of 0.0, 8.0 and 12.0 g/kg dry matter (DM). In vitro pH, AV, and methane emission of the experimental diets were determined using the gas production technique. Results showed that buffering capacity was significantly the highest for the PC, followed by BH, SB, and SSc (143.3, 138.3, 136.6, and 135, respectively). Analysis of the acid load revealed that adding 8 g/kg of DM of SB in the FC40:60 diet led to the lowest AV (9.6 mg Ca g–1 DM). In addition, adding 12 g/kg of DM of BH in the FC30:70 and 8 g/kg of DM of SB in the FC35:65 diet caused the lowest (5.27) and highest (5.43) pH compared to the other treatments, respectively. The FC40:60 diet containing 8 g/kg DM of PC had the lowest level of methane emission (1.01 mL/0.20 g DM). Our findings demonstrated that the rumen acid load and methane emission may alter when the dietary buffering capacities are changed using the inorganic buffers. پرونده مقاله

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of various doses of essential oils (EO) of thyme (TEO) or cinnamon (CEO) on in vitro rumen degradation of protein of a commercial total mixed ratio (TMR) containing 16.4% crud protein (CP). Treatments were TMR without any of EOs (control); control plus 25 µL of TEO (TEO25); control plus 50 µL of TEO (TEO50); control plus 25 µL of CEO (CEO25) and control plus 50 µL of CEO (CEO50). Rumen fluid was collected before the morning feeding from two rumen fistulated dairy cows. Approximately, 90 mL of buffered rumen fluid (BRF), 400 mg of feed sample plus carbohydrates (maltose, xylose and starch) at four concentrations (100, 200, 300 and 400 mg) were added to screw-cap bottles. Gas production (mL) and ammonia nitrogen concentration (mg) in each bottle were measured at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 30 h post-incubation and in vitro crude protein degradation (IVDP) was calculated via a linear regression. Both TEO and CEO caused a significant reduction in IVDP values compared with those of control (P<0.05). The IVDP values for treatments of control, TEO50 and CEO50 after 30 h post incubation were 0.56, 0.33 and 0.48, respectively. Amount of the readily fermentable fraction and the potentially degradable fraction of the feed protein were affected significantly by treatments (P<0.05). Also, the effective crude protein degradability (EPD) was significantly affected by the EOs (P<0.05). These results suggest that the TEO and CEO might be used for manipulating the ruminal protein degradability. پرونده مقاله

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dairy cow diets containing different protein sources [soybean meal, xylose protected soybean meal (Yasminomax®), and steam-flaked whole soybean] and various partially processed grain on in vitro gas production kinetics and the microbial nitrogen yield. Soybean meal (S) and xylose protected of soybean meal (XS) were provided as 0.56:0.44 (SXSL) and 0.51:0.49 (SXSH) ratios. The diets were ground barley (B) + S, B+ SXSL, steam-flaked barley (FB) + S, FB + SXSL, B + steam-flaked whole soybean (WS), B + SXSH, FB + WS and FB + SXSH. An in vitro gas production technique was used to define the differences in the microbial nitrogen production of the diets. Asymptotic gas volume (b) was higher than the others for diets containing steam-flaked whole soybean (P<0.01). The highest constant rate of gas production (c) belongs to diet with ground barley and soybean meal, the highest halftime of gas production (t1/2) was obtained from diet with steam-flaked barley and soybean meal (P<0.01). The microbial nitrogen yield and consequently microbial nitrogen to diet nitrogen ratio were higher in diets containing xylose protected soybean meal than the others, especially, when compared with steam-flaked whole soybean diets (P<0.05). These results showed that WS, when compared with S and XS may not improve rumen fermentation and microbial nitrogen production with both ground and steam-flaked barley grain and the best performance in microbial nitrogen yield belongs to xylose protected soybean meal. پرونده مقاله

Twenty-four lactating Holstein dairy cows were used in a completely randomized design to investigate the effect of soybean meal (SM) and xylose protected soybean meal (XSM) in combination with ground (GB) or steam flaked (FB) barley on dry matter intake, milk production, rumen fermentation and blood responses. The experimental period lasted for 30 days. The diets consisted of the provision of 19.85% corn silage, 12.02% alfalfa hay, 0.72% wheat straw and 67.41% concentrate that averaged 17% crude proteins (DM basis) were offered two times daily. Dry matter intake (DMI) (P=0.051) and milk yield (P<0.0001) decreased by XSM in diets with GB or FB (P<0.05). The animals fed diets containing XSM had lower fat corrected milk (FCM 3.5%) and energy corrected milk (ECM) than diets containing SM (P<0.05). The milk fat and solids not fat percentage in XSM were significantly higher than SM (P<0.05) but milk protein percentage was lower (P<0.05). A comparison of GB versus FB and SM versus XSM diets indicated that the milk protein yield was higher for diets containing FB (P<0.05) and containing SM (P<0.001). Blood metabolites were significantly different between treatments (P<0.05). The diets containing XSM had lower levels of non-esterified fatty acids and higher levels blood urine nitrogen than those containing SM (P<0.05). The Acetate, propionate, valerate and butyrate concentrations differed significantly between the diets (P<0.05). In according to the results of our experiment, soybean meal in combination with ground barely may alter the performance of Holstein dairy cows. پرونده مقاله

Rapid degradation of barley grain (BG, Hordeum vulgare) starch in the rumen can seriously impair rumen fermentation efficiency. Some strategies to curb the negative effects of grain feeding and hamper dysfermentation rely on the usage of phytogenic substances or organic acids. In order to process BGs, they were steeped in 5% lactic acid (BGLA), oregano (BGORE) or thyme (BGTHY) extracts for 48 h. Therefore, an in situ study was conducted to assess the effect of either processed BG or unprocessed BG (control; BGCTRL) on ruminal degradation kinetics (a; soluble fraction, b; potential degradable fraction, c; fractional degradation rate) and effective rumen degradability (ERD) of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and starch. In vitro trials with a 2 × 2 × 4 factorial design were also used to assess the effect of diets which contained intact or processed BGs with different CP [160 (P16) vs. 170 (P17)] g/kg DM,) and ruminal protein degradability percentages [90 (low degradability; LD) vs. 115 (high degradability; HD) g/kg DM] on rumen gas production characteristics (b; asymptotic gas volume, c; the constant rate of gas production), yield of microbial crude protein (MCP) and effective utilizable crude protein in the duodenum (EuCP). In situ data demonstrated that BGLA compared with BGCTRL had significantly lower fractions of “a” (0.22 vs. 0.26, P=0.03) and “c” (0.10 vs. 0.17, P<0.01) and ERD of starch (0.53 vs. 0.64, P=0.01). The treatment of BGs with the plant extracts, however, was not able to change the in situ parameters relatively to BGCTRL. Results of the in vitro trials indicated that diets containing processed BG had higher MCP when compared with BGCTRL (19.74 vs. 15.85 mg/250 mg DM, P<0.01). Lactic acid and ORE-treated barley decreased the gas production constant rate (c; mL/h) and gas volume after 2 h compared with BGCTRL (P≤0.05). Our study revealed that processed BG can alter the rumen starch degradation pattern, and rumen gas production parameters and increase MCP and EuCP. پرونده مقاله

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of feeding Iranian propolis extract on perform-ance of Holstein dairy cows. In this study 18 dairy postpartum Holstein cows (120 days in milk (DIM) and body weight of 577±37.54 kg) were used. The experiment was carried out in a period of 29 d (10 d adaptation and 19 d sample collection). The data was analyzed considering a completely randomized design by the GLM procedure of SAS 9.1. In this experiment 3 treatments [A: TMR diet, B: TMR diet + Iranian propolis extract (IPE) 50% (67.50 g/day/animal) and C: TMR diet + IPE 75% (67.50 g/day/animal)] were used. The results of this study showed that adding different concentrations of IPE to dairy cow ration did not have any significant effect (P>0.05) on ruminal pH, but significant de-crease (P0.05) change some the blood parameters while statistically changed (P<0.05) the blood concentrations of aspartate ami-notransferase, albumin, glucose and protein. The phenolic compounds in propolis changed rumen ni-trogen ammonia, rumen short chain fatty acids, rumen microbial population, some blood parameters and fatty acid composition in the milk. These changes improve fermentation process and consequently affect significantly fatty acid composition in milk. پرونده مقاله