Evaluating Sugarcane Diets for Dairy Cows Using a Digestion Model

To eliminate unnecessary feeding trials, a mechanistic model of sugarcane digestion was used in the search for suitable supplements to improve milk production. Milk production simulated by the model was compared with data observed in four feeding trials published in the tropical literature where crossbred dairy cows were fed sugarcane/urea diets with different types of supplements. The predicted effects of the supplements on the ruminal microbial population, concentrations of ammonia and volatile fatty acids were also compared with the published results in one experiment. The model indicated the nutrient most limiting milk production for the different feeding situations. The addtion of Leucaena to the basal sugarcane/urea improved the availability of amino acids and long-chain fatty acids, with energy becoming the limiting factor. Supplementation with rice bran increased the availability of energy and long-chain fatty acids, but amino acids then became the limiting factor. Supplementation with both Leucaena and rice bran further improved the milk yield, but availability of energy now limited milk production. Supplementation with Leucaena increased milk production more than supplementation with king grass. The main reason for this increase was increased amino acid absorption due to increased microbial outflow. In all feeding situations, the average difference between the predicted milk production and that observed experimentally was 0.57 kg/d (ranging from 0.08 to 1 kg/d).     

Preliminary Epidemiological and Clinical Observations on Shimao Zheng (Fleece-Eating) in Goats and Sheep

Veterinary Research Communications -     

Growth and Apparent Absorption of Minerals in Broiler Chicks Fed Diets with Low or High Tannin Contents

Sorghum grains with low (0.28 per cent catechin equivalent (%CE) or high (1.36 %CE)) tannin contents were used to study the effect of tannin on growth and on the apparent absorption of Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe and Co by chickens. High-tannin sorghum caused a highly significant (p0.01) reduction in the weight gain and feed intake of broiler chicks compared to low-tannin sorghum and increased the feed conversion ratio (p0.01). The amount of tannin did not affect mortality. The apparent absorption of Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe and Co was reduced (p0.01) by feeding sorghum grains with a high tannin content.     

Energy expenditure in Awassi sheep grazing wheat stubble in the northern Negev Desert of Israel

In semi-arid Mediterranean areas, small grain aftermath stubble represents an important summer source of food for grazing flocks of small ruminants. Wheat stubble is a mediocre source of forage and flocks are grazed in summer under harsh conditions of temperature and air dustiness. However, stubble grazing procedures are changing, water and shading are more frequently available between grazing sessions (“improved management”), and the biological soundness of this ancestral practice needs to be re-visited. The present study was aimed at evaluating the cost in energy of “improved” wheat stubble grazing, compared with feeding a similar diet indoors. The intake of stubble was first quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated in Awassi sheep. Ewes consumed daily 980 ± 100 g day^− 1 of wheat stubble. Ewes were then housed and fed diets consisting of wheat hay, straw and grain formulated to be iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous to diets consumed from wheat stubble. The average intake of ME was similar during the confinement and the pasture periods (6.4 ± 0.5 and 7.6 ± 0.8 MJ day^− 1of ME, respectively). During 2 days of each period, animals were fitted with external electrodes and data loggers of heart rate and skin temperature. Energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from oxygen consumption estimated as the product of heart beats rate measured for the two days by the amount of oxygen delivered to body tissues at each heart beat (O₂ pulse). The O₂ pulse was determined by simultaneously measurement of oxygen consumption and HR twice daily on two occasions, while grazing stubble and indoors. Energy expenditure and energy balance were not different in sheep while grazing wheat stubble (11.1 and − 3.5 MJ day^− 1) or fed indoors (11.1 and − 4.8 MJ day^− 1). Our data show that stubble did not cover nitrogen and energy requirements for maintenance, and that the cost of summer stubble grazing carried out under conditions described here is less than thought before.     

饲粮镁对肉仔鸡生长、组织镁浓度及抗氧化功能的影响

研究比较了天门冬氨酸镁和氧化镁对肉仔鸡镁营养状态及肝脏和脾脏等组织抗氧化酶能力的影响。将252只1日龄的AA肉仔鸡随机分为7个处理组,每个处理6个重复,每个重复6只鸡。天门冬氨酸镁和氧化镁的添加水平为0.9、1.8、2.7g/kg日粮,基础日粮组作为不添加镁的对照组。日粮中添加镁能显著提高血清、肝脏和脾脏中的镁浓度(P<0.01),天门冬氨酸镁比氧化镁更能有效地提高血清和肝脏中的镁含量(P<0.01)。肝脏过氧化氢酶(CAT)的活性,随天门冬氨酸镁添加量的增加线性增加(P<0.01),随氧化镁添加量的增加呈二次曲线增加(P<0.05)。天门冬氨酸镁比氧化镁更有效地增强肝脏中CAT的活性(P<0.01)。脾脏CAT的活性随天门冬氨酸镁(P<0.05)或氧化镁(P<0.01)添加量的增加线性增加。肝脏(P<0.05)和脾脏(P<0.01)丙二醛MDA的浓度随氧化镁或天门冬氨酸镁添加量的增加线性降低。天门冬氨酸镁比氧化镁更有效地降低肝脏中的MDA浓度(P<0.01)。结果表明:日粮中添加镁能显著改善肉仔鸡各种组织中镁的含量,并能提高肝脏和脾脏等组织中抗氧化酶的活性,降低脂质过氧化水平。     

Effects of immune-enhancing parenteral nutrition on nutritional status,immunity and inflammatory responses in postoperative patients with portal hypertension surgery

AIM:This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of postoperative immune-enhancing parenteral nutrition on the nutritional statue,immune function,and inflammatory responses in patients undergoing portal hypertension surgery. METHODS: This study was designed as a prospective,randomized and controlled clinical trial. Forty-two patients undergoing portal hypertension surgery were randomly assigned to receive either an immune-enhancing parenteral nutrition(adding glutamine and recombinant human growth hormone,n=22) or an isocaloric and isonitrogenous control standard parenteral nutrition(n=20) for seven days. Parenteral nutrition was initiated 3 days after surgery. Blood samples were obtained on day 0,3,and 10. Host nutritional statue was evaluated by measuring levels of prealbumin and transferrin,immunity was observed by measuring levels of CD4+ cells,CD8+ cells,CD4+/CD8+,IgG,IgM and IgA,and the inflammatory responses was determined by assessing IL-2,TNF-α and C-reactive protein(CRP) levels. RESULTS:On postoperative day 10,among patients receiving an immune-enhancing parenteral nutrition,prealbumin,transferrin,CD4+ cells,CD4+/CD8+,IgG and IL-2 levels were significantly higher than those in control group,and TNF-α and CRP concentrations were significantly decreased（P<0.05）. CONCLUSION:Postoperative administration of immune-enhancing parenteral nutrition in patients undergoing portal hypertension surgery can improve postoperative nutritional statue and immune function,and relieve inflammatory response.     

The effect of feed quality on the kinetic disposition of orally administered triclabendazole in sheep

The effect of two qualities of feed on the kinetic disposition of triclabendazole (TCBZ) metabolites was investigated in sheep (n = 4) following oral administration of TCBZ at 10 mg/kg body weight. The same sheep were given sequentially two qualitatively different diets: a low-quality (LQ) diet based on wheat straw ad libitum, and a high-quality (HQ) diet based on barley+alfalfa. The triclabendazole sulphoxide (TCBZSO) and triclabendazole sulphone (TCBZSO₂) concentrations were determined in blood samples taken serially from the jugular vein between 5 min and 9 days after TCBZ administration. The parent drug TCBZ was not detected in any of the samples. The quality of feed affected the kinetics of both TCBZ metabolites. The rate of appearance (T_lag and T_max) in the jugular blood was slower and the formed amount (AUC) of TCBZSO was slightly higher when the sheep were on the LQ diet (T_lag = 7.74 h; T_max = 27.91 h; AUC = 1042 g.h/ml) than when they were offered the HQ diet (T_lag = 1.90 h; T_max = 16.01 h; AUC = 832.4 g.h/ml). The MRT of TCBZSO was about 40% longer with the LQ diet than with the HQ diet. Similarly, the rate of appearance of TCBZSO₂ in plasma of sheep was slower when they were on the LQ diet than when they were on the HQ diet, suggesting an impairment of the hepatic enzymatic activity involved in the oxidation of TCBZSO to TCBZSO₂.     

Detrimental effects on villus form during conventional oralrehydration therapy for diarrhoea in calves; alleviation by a nutrient oral rehydration solution containing glutamine

This paper examines the possibility that treatment of diarrhoea with conventional oral rehydration solutions (ORSs) may be detrimental to villus structure by imposing nutrient deprivation and that such detrimental effects may be reduced or avoided by using a nutrient ORS. A conventional WHO-type ORS (W) was compared with two nutrient solutions (N and G) both containing high glucose concentrations and the latter containing glutamine; their effects on enteric structure were assessed by morphometric analysis of samples obtained from diarrhoeic calves after 96h treatment. Comparisons were also made with samples from controls and diarrhoeic calves at the stage where oral rehydration would have begun in the treated groups. As in our previous ORS studies, diarrhoea was induced with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (09:K30:K99). We measured villus length and width, crypt depth and width and calculated villus surface area in proximal, mid and distal small intestine (PSI, MSI, DSI), using standard morphometric techniques. Proximal and distal spiral colon samples (PC, DC) were examined for crypt depth and width; mitoses per crypt were counted in samples from all regions. Non-diarrhoeic calves showed the expected gradient of villus length through PSI, MSI and DSI, hence data for each region are normalized as a percentage of the control value for that region. PSI showed the greatest loss of villus length and surface area (50%) with diarrhoea. In MSI and DSI the villus loss was greater with solution W and N or G, as were increased mitoses and crypt depth. Crypt depth and mitoses also increased in the colon with solution W. Colonic crypt width increased with diarrhoea and conventional oral rehydration but less so with G; there is reason to believe that such changes have functional significance. Crypt changes in colon, MSI and DSI were least with solution G. The changes developing in diarrhoeic calves prior to treatment were thus less apparent in those treated with a nutritional ORS, particularly if it contained glutamine.