Interaction between the sequence of feeding of hay and concentrate,and boiling of barley on feed intake,the activity of hydrolytic enzymes and fermentation in the hindgut of Arabian mares

The interaction between the sequence of feeding of hay and concentrate and the hydrothermal processing of barley in alleviating concentrate effects on intake, and hindgut fermentation in horses was tested. Six Arabian mares (4–10 years of age, 410 ± 35 kg body weight) were used to evaluate the effects of feeding sequence (FS) and type of barley (TB) on intake, and faecal volatile fatty acids (VFA), activities of α‐amylase (AA: EC 3.2.1.1), carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase: EC 3.2.1.4), microcrystalline cellulase (MCCase: EC 3.2.1.91) and general filter paper degrading activity (FPD). Mares were offered a ration of air‐dried alfalfa and concentrate (70:30 as‐fed) in four subsequent periods of 14 days including 8 days of adaptation and 6 days of sampling. In each period and each meal, mares received concentrate either 30 min after (HC) or 30 min before (CH) alfalfa hay. Barley was either milled or boiled in water. Rectal samples were grabbed directly from rectum once per period. Mares subjected to CH had higher dry matter intakes than mares under HC regime. The acetate:propionate ratio (A:P ratio) in rectal content was higher with CH than HC. The AA activity was higher under CH than under HC. Mares fed boiled barley had lower rectal concentrations of VFA and propionate and a higher A:P ratio than mares fed milled barley. Furthermore, the rectal content showed a higher MCCase activity but a lower AA activity when mares were fed boiled compared with milled barley. Interactions between FS and TB were observed with respect to CMCase activity, and concentrations of propionate and valerate. In conclusion, the present results suggest that both, feeding concentrate before hay and boiling the barley, might improve the hindgut environment in Arabian mares, and that the two measures were mostly additive and sometimes even synergistic.     

Are dual-purpose and male layer chickens more resilient against a low-protein-low-soybean diet than slow-growing broilers?

ABSTRACT

1. Although fattening dual-purpose types or male layer hybrid chickens appears more ethical than the common practice of culling day-old male layer chicks, the lower feed efficiency of these birds raises concerns. Replacing feed ingredients that compete with food production by those of lower value for human nutrition would be beneficial.

2. Lohmann Dual (LD), a modern dual-purpose type, Lohmann Brown (LB), a male layer hybrid, and Hubbard JA 957 (HU), a slow-growing broiler type, were fattened for nine weeks on two diets (control or ?20% crude protein; n = 6 × 12 birds). Growth, carcass and meat quality were analysed.

3. Growth performance of HU exceeded that of LD and especially of LB. The growth depression caused by the low-protein diet fed to LD (?7%) was only half of that found in HU (?13%). The LD fed the control diet had the same feed efficiency as the HU fed the low-protein diet. Even the LB had a lower performance and feed efficiency with the low-protein diet in growth. There was a gradient in carcass properties (weight, dressing percentage, breast meat yield, breast proportion and breast angle) from HU to LD to LB, with some additional adverse effects of the low-protein diet especially in HU. There were some breed differences in fatty acid profile in the intramuscular fat.

4. In conclusion, the dual-purpose type used complied with regulations for Swiss organic poultry systems in terms of growth rate and was found to respond less when fed a low-protein diet than the slow-growing broiler type. The LB males were inferior in all growth and carcass quality traits. Future studies need to determine the exact protein and amino acid requirements of dual-purpose and layer hybrid chickens and the economic feasibility of the systems, especially for organic farming.     

Digestive physiology,metabolism and methane production of captive Linné's two‐toed sloths (Choloepus didactylus)

Sloths are renowned for their low metabolic rate, low food intake and low defecation frequency. We investigated factors of digestive physiology and energy metabolism in four captive individuals (mean body mass 10.0 ± SD 3.7 kg) of a hitherto mostly unstudied sloth species, Linné's two‐toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus), in a 2‐week digestion recording and 23‐h respiration experiment on animals fed a standard zoo diet of vegetables and starchy components. Dry matter intake, defecation frequency and particle mean retention time (MRT) in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) were 12 ± 3 g/(kg^0.75 day), once every 5 days and >140 h in three individuals, but 53 g/(kg^0.75 day), daily and 82 h in one individual that was apparently compensating for a period of weight loss prior to the experiment. In all animals, solute marker was eliminated at a faster rate than the particle marker, indicating ‘digesta washing’ in the sloths’ GIT. The overall metabolic rate calculated from oxygen consumption matched the metabolisable energy intake in three individuals [173 ± 22 vs. 168 ± 44 kJ/(kg^0.75 day)] but not in the fourth one [225 vs. 698 kJ/(kg^0.75 day)], supporting the interpretation that this animal was replenishing body stores. In spite of the low food intake and the low‐fibre diet (209 ± 26 g neutral detergent fibre/kg dry matter), methane production was rather high accounting for 9.4 ± 0.8% of gross energy intake (2.7% in the fourth individual), which exceeded literature data for ruminants on forage‐only diets. These results corroborate literature reports on low intake, low defecation frequency, low metabolic rate and long MRT in other sloth species. The long MRT is probably responsible for the comparatively high methane production, providing more opportunity for methanogenic archaea than in other non‐ruminant mammals to produce significant amounts of methane.     

Nitric oxide air pollution: detection by optoacoustic spectroscopy

Nitric oxide is detected by a new technique in which tunable infrared radiation from a spin-flip Raman laser is used to measure the absorption spectrumn of a gas sample by optoacoustic spectroscopy. This technique is sensitive enough to detect a concentration of 0.01 part per million of nitric oxide pollution in air samples.     

Air pollution: sensitive detection of ten pollutant gases by carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide lasers

Detection sensitivities of a few parts per billion for ten gaseous pollutants have been evaluated by measuring the strength of the absorption of infrared radiation from carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide lasers. Ethylene concentrations as small as 5 parts per billion have been detected in air. The measured absorption strengths indicate that in mixtures of pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide and water vapor, the sensitivity is reduced by overlapping absorption bands. However, calculations indicate that it should be possible to detect nitrogen dioxide concentrations of 0.01 part per million in the presence of water vapor concentrations of 105 parts per million.     

Grazing of a common species of soil protozoa (Acanthamoeba castellanii) affects rhizosphere bacterial community composition and root architecture of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

We performed a controlled experiment with rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.) growing in Petri dishes on homogeneous nutrient agar containing a simple rhizosphere food web consisting of a diverse bacterial community and a common soil protozoa, Acanthamoeba castellanii, as bacterial grazer. Presence of amoebae increased bacterial activity and significantly changed the community composition and spatial distribution of bacteria in the rhizosphere. In particular, Betaproteobacteria did benefit from protozoan grazing. We hypothesize that the changes in bacterial community composition affected the root architecture of rice plants. These effects on root architecture affect a fundamental aspect of plant productivity. Root systems in presence of protozoa were characterized by high numbers of elongated (L-type) laterals, those laterals that are a prerequisite for the construction of branched root systems. This was in sharp contrast to root system development in absence of protozoa, where high numbers of lateral root primordia and short (S-type) laterals occurred which did not grow out of the rhizosphere region of the axile root. As a consequence of nutrient release from grazed bacteria and changes in root architecture, the nitrogen content of rice shoots increased by 45% in presence of protozoa. Our study illustrates that interactions over three trophic levels, i.e. between plants, bacteria and protozoa significantly modify root architecture and nutrient uptake by plants.     

Characterisation of the acute phase response of heifers to a prolonged low dose infusion of lipopolysaccharide

The effect of a prolonged low dose infusion of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPs) on acute phase-like reactions was examined in heifers. LPS (2 μg kg⁻¹ dissolved in 100 ml water), or saline was infused (at 1 ml min⁻¹) intravenously for 100 minutes and blood samples were taken at various times before, during and after the infusion. The serum concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-alpha(TNFα), interleukin-Ibeta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and serum amyloid A (SAA) and the rectal temperature increased in response to the LPS infusion. Serum TNFα increased before the increases in IL-1β and IL-6 and remained high from 20 minutes after the onset of the infusion until the end of the sampling period (six hours). The LPS-induced increases in serum IL-1β and IL-6 were biphasic. Plasma cortisol and lactate concentrations also increased, and plasma glucose and B-hydroxybutyrate concentrations decreased in response to the LPS infusion. The similarity of these reactions to changes observed in response to bacterial infections shows that the prolonged infusion of low doses of LPS is a good model for studying the acute phase response to Gramnegative bacterial infection in heifers.