AIMS: To determine the effect of providing water within the area grazed by dairy cows on milk yield and quality, compared to requiring cows to walk to a distant water trough, on a dairy farm in the Pampa region of Argentina during summer.
METHODS: Holstein dairy cows were allocated to two herds with similar parity, days in milk and milk production. They were grazed in one paddock that was divided in two, with a fixed water trough at one end. Cows were moved twice daily to grazing plots within the paddock. Control cows (n=66) could only access water from the fixed trough, whereas supplemented cows (n=67) also received water from a mobile trough within the grazing plot. Milk production of each cow, and water consumption of the two herds were measured daily over 62 days. Milk composition for each herd was determined weekly from Days 18 to 60 of the study, and grazing behaviour was observed between 08:00 and 16:00 hours on Days 11–15, 19–22 and 39–43.
RESULTS: Over the 62 days of the study, supplemented cows produced 1.39 (SE 0.11) L/cow/day more milk than Control cows (p=0.027). Estimated mean daily water intake was 50.4 (SE 2.1) L/cow/day for supplemented cows and 58.2 (SE 2.7) L/cow/day for Control cows (p=0.004). Percentage total solids in milk was higher for supplemented (12.5 (SE 0.06)%) than Control (12.4 (SE 0.04)%) cows (p=0.047). During the periods of behavioural observation, a higher percentage of cows in the water supplemented than the Control herd were observed in the grazing area (p=0.012).
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This preliminary study demonstrated that provision of water to dairy cows within the grazing plot was beneficial for milk production and composition, and may be associated with longer periods spent within the grazing area, during hot weather in the Pampa region of Argentina. 相似文献
In this experiment, the effect of dietary Plantago ovata (PO) on performance, carcass criteria, intestinal morphology, immunity, and intestinal bacterial population of broiler chickens was evaluated. A total of 250 one‐day‐old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to five treatments containing 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20 g/kg of PO with five replicate pens and 10 birds in each replicate. Dietary PO increased body weight gain and decreased feed conversion ratio in the finisher period, improving the performance index (p <.05). Dietary treatments had no effects on carcass criteria, but breast meat percentage showed an increasing trend with incremental levels of PO in the diet (p =.069). The length of small intestine, especially jejunum section, as well as the villus height, villus width, villus area, and goblet cell numbers were significantly increased with supplemental PO (p <.05). Humoral and cellular immunity parameters, and oxidation stability of meat were improved due to use of dietary PO (p <.05). Dietary PO decreased the CFU of Escherichia coli, whereas the Lactobacilli population was increased (p =.001). Broken‐line regression revealed that dietary PO at the rate of 10 g/kg may results in the best performance in broiler chickens. This study showed that PO at the level of 10 g/kg could be considered as a beneficial feed additive in broiler diet. 相似文献
The effect of water restriction on body weight, body condition score, milk yield, and milk composition and rheological characteristics in intensively reared Lacaune ewes was evaluated. After 7 days of adaptation, the trial lasted 28 days. Thirty lactating ewes (48 ± 5 months of age; mean value ± standard deviation) at the beginning of third lactation month were divided into three groups (n = 10), corresponding to the following water restriction treatment: a group control received no drinking water restriction (W100), and two groups received water to the extent of 80% and 60% of W100 daily consumption (W80 and W60 group respectively). The effects of water restriction were assessed at the beginning of experiment (D0), at D14 and D28. The W60 group resulted in a significant decrease in body weight, body condition score, milk yield and feed consumption of hay due to the experimental treatment; whereas a marked increase in both W60 and W80 groups of milk lactose, urea, sodium, sodium chloride content and titratable acidity was observed. Rheological parameters of milk, rennet coagulation time and curd‐firming time were positively affected by water restriction treatments, with a decrease in both experimental groups of the time required for the formation of a stable and firm curd. Results highlight the importance of water consumption in dairy sheep. The scarce availability of water, significantly affecting ewes milk production, is worthy of particular attention in arid area where water stress‐resistant breeds should be considered. This study underlines that milk yield, being closely linked to the availability of water of the breeding habitat due to its high water content (about 81%), could be reached in area where water is not a limiting factor without reducing the genetic expression of the animals. Less severe water restrictions, such as 20% of daily voluntary water intake, produce no detrimental effect on milk yield. 相似文献
Estimating future fluxes of CH4 between land and atmosphere requires well-conceived process-based biogeochemical models. Current models do not represent the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in land surface soils, in spite of increasing evidence that this process is widespread. Our objective was to determine whether AOM, or potential AOM, commonly occurs in 20 hydromorphic soils spanning a wide range of chemical properties. Bulk soil samples were collected under shallow water near the shoreline of 15 recently drained fish ponds in southern Bohemia (Czech Republic), as well as from below the water table at 3 peatland locations in northeast Scotland and 2 acid sulfate soils on the southern coast of Finland. Each soil slurry was incubated under both oxic and anoxic conditions, with or without the addition of alternative electron acceptors (SO42− and NO3−) or H2PO4−. Here, “oxic” and “anoxic” conditions refer to anoxic soil respectively incubated in a headspace containing air or argon. Using the isotope dilution method, we determined the gross production and oxidation rates of CH4 after 2 days incubation under oxic headspace conditions, and after 2, 21 and 60 days incubation under anoxic conditions. Large differences in net CH4 fluxes were observed between soil types and between incubation conditions. AOM was detected in each of the 20 bulk soil samples, which spanned >6 pH units and 2 orders of magnitude in organic C content. Significant positive relationships were found between AOM and gross CH4 production rates under anoxic conditions, resulting in AOM rates that were sometimes higher than CH4 oxidation rates under oxic headspace conditions. There was no relationship between net and gross CH4 production rates, such that 2 soil types could display similar low net rates, yet conceal very large differences in gross rates. The effects of alternative electron acceptors on AOM were idiosyncratic and resulted in no net trend. We did find, however, a negative effect of SO42− and H2PO4− on gross CH4 production rates under anoxic and oxic conditions respectively. Under oxic headspace conditions, CH4 oxidation was related to soil organic C content. Taken collectively, our results suggest that AOM, or potential AOM, is prevalent over a wide range of soil types, that AOM may contribute substantially to CH4 oxidation in soils, and that AOM in soils should be integrated to current process-based CH4 cycling models. 相似文献
Rising temperatures and decreasing water transparency of lakes have strong wide ranging effects on fish. Fish responses to various changes in the environment are usually species‐dependent, but responses may also vary within species. In general, large individuals are considered to be more sensitive to environmental variation due to higher energy demand, than smaller individuals. Similarly, large individuals require more food to maintain bodily functions and are thus more sensitive to resource and food scarcity. These size‐specific responses to environmental gradients are also sex‐dependent in species that exhibit sexual size dimorphism (SSD). We studied in enclosures with short‐term experiments how rising temperatures and decreasing water transparency regulate the feeding rates of female and male European perch (Perca fluviatilis L.). To explore experimental results, we calculated perch SSD in nine lakes with varying environmental conditions using previously collected field data. The results of the experiments revealed that the combined effect of water transparency and temperature on the feeding rate of fish is gender‐dependent: feeding rate of females decreased more than that of males. The experimental results were also supported by field data that revealed a negative relation between water transparency and the magnitude of SSD in perch. Our results suggest that rising temperatures and decreasing water transparency may potentially decrease fish size in a sex‐dependent manner. As female size is one of the main demographic traits determining the reproductive success of a fish population, changing environments may have unexpected and far‐reaching consequences on fish population dynamics. 相似文献
Abstract – Standard metabolic rate (SMR, closely related to basal and resting metabolism) varies by up to threefold among juvenile Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., of similar size at common temperature. Here, consequences of this variation are predicted by combining empirically derived relationships between SMR, specific dynamic action, energy budgets, water velocity, food level in the environment and food availability to fish. The range of velocities across which growth is predicted to occur is inversely related to a fish’s SMR. Growth is positively related to SMR at high but negatively related to it at low‐food levels. The relationship between food level and the range of velocities over which lower SMR fish can grow but higher SMR fish cannot is asymmetrically bi‐phasic and peaked. It is predicted that maternal manipulation of offspring SMR would generate fitness benefits through bet‐hedging against unpredictability in food level and increases in the overall range of velocities that the family of offspring can occupy and thrive in. 相似文献