Archives of Animal Nutrition最新文献

Prickly pear cactus peels (Opuntia ficus-indica, PPCP) are a powerful source of antioxidant components and available as a by-product in arid regions in large quantities. The current work investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of PPCP on feed efficiency, milk yield and composition, haematology, serum biochemical constituents and antioxidant status of lactating Barki ewes. Fifteen multiparous female Barki sheep (2-3 years old, body weight post partum 46.9 ± 0.59 kg) were individually and randomly distributed into three groups (five ewes each). The first group was the control without PPCP supplementation; the second and third groups were fed for 60 d diets supplemented with dried PPCP powder at daily doses of 5 and 10 g/ewe, respectively. The results revealed a significant increase in total dry matter intake (p ≤ 0.001) and numerical rise in total milk yield (p = 0.054) with PPCP addition at 5 g/ewe compared with the control group. The serum lipid profile was significantly altered by PPCP supplementation. Serum urea nitrogen decreased (p ≤ 0.001) with PPCP treatment. Antioxidant enzyme activities, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase, were significantly increased (p ≤ 0.001) and the level of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances was significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.001) with increasing PPCP supplementation levels in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, supplementation with 5 g PPCP improved total dry matter intake, serum lipid profiles and antioxidant status in Barki ewes during lactation.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of raw (PP) and fermented pomegranate pomace (FP) on performance, antioxidant activity, caecal microbiota and ileal morphology in broiler chickens. A total of 175 male broiler chicks were allocated to five treatment groups with five replicates and seven birds per replicate in a completely randomised design. Dietary treatments included a soy-corn based diet (control), diets supplemented with PP at 5 (5PP) and 10 g/kg (10PP), and diets supplemented with FP at 5 (5FP) and 10 g/kg (10FP). Dietary PP and FP did not change the body weight and feed conversion ratio. Moreover, dietary PP and FP did not alter the serum glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase levels but decreased malondialdehyde (p < 0.05) in breast meat. Caecal Clostridium perfringens count was decreased in broiler chickens of groups 10PP, 5FP and 10FP (p < 0.05). However, PP and FP had detrimental effects on the ileum morphology of broiler chicks. The villus height was decreased in the 10PP, 5FP and 10FP groups compared with the control group (p < 0.01). Crypt depth was higher in the 5PP and 10FP groups than control and 10PP groups (p < 0.01). The villus height to crypt depth ratio was also decreased in 5PP, 5FP, and 10FP groups (p < 0.01). These results suggest that PP and FP have the potential to be used in broiler diets as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents. However, detailed studies should be conducted to investigate the underlying reasons for the detrimental effects on ileal morphology.

Straw is the main by-product of grain production, used as bedding material and animal feed. If produced or stored under adverse hygienic conditions, straw is prone to the growth of filamentous fungi. Some of them, e.g. Aspergillus, Fusarium and Stachybotrys spp. are well-known mycotoxin producers. Since studies on mycotoxins in straw are scarce, 192 straw samples (wheat n = 80; barley n = 79; triticale n = 12; oat n = 11; rye n = 12) were collected across Germany within the German official feed surveillance and screened for the presence of 21 mycotoxins. The following mycotoxins (positive samples for at least one mycotoxin n = 184) were detected: zearalenone (n = 86, 6.0-785 μg/kg), nivalenol (n = 51, 30-2,600 μg/kg), deoxynivalenol (n = 156, 20-24,000 μg/kg), 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (n = 34, 20-2,400 μg/kg), 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (n = 16, 40-340 μg/kg), scirpentriol (n = 14, 40-680 μg/kg), T-2 toxin (n = 67, 10-250 μg/kg), HT-2 toxin (n = 92, 20-800 μg/kg), T-2 tetraol (n = 13, 70-480 μg/kg). 15-monoacetoxyscirpenol (30 μg/kg) and T-2 triol (60 μg/kg) were only detected in one barley sample. Macrocyclic trichothecenes (satratoxin G, F, roridin E, and verrucarin J) were also found in only one barley sample (quantified as roridin A equivalent: total 183 μg/kg). The occurrence of stachybotrylactam was monitored for the first time in four samples (n = 4, 0.96-7.4 μg/kg). Fusarenon-X, 4,15-diacetoxyscirpenol, neosolaniol, satratoxin H and roridin-L2 were not detectable in the samples. The results indicate a non-negligible contribution of straw to oral and possibly inhalation exposure to mycotoxins of animals or humans handling contaminated straw.

The climate-relevant enteric methane (CH₄) formation represents a loss of feed energy that is potentially meaningful for energetically undersupplied peripartal dairy cows. Higher concentrate feed proportions (CFP) are known to reduce CH₄ emissions in cows. The same applies to the feed additive 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), albeit through different mechanisms. It was hypothesised that the hydrogen not utilised for CH₄ formation through the inhibition by 3-NOP would be sequestered by propionate formation triggered by higher CFP so that it could thereby give rise to a synergistically reduced CH₄ emission. In a 2 × 2-factorial design, low (LC) or high (HC) CFP were either tested without supplements (CON_LC, CON_HC) or combined with 3-NOP (NOP_LC, 48.4 mg/kg dry matter (DM); NOP_HC, 51.2 mg 3-NOP/kg DM). These four rations were fed to a total of 55 Holstein cows from d 28 ante partum until d 120 post partum. DM intake (DMI) was not affected by 3-NOP but increased with CFP (CFP; p < 0.001). CH₄/DMI and CH₄/energy-corrected milk (ECM) were mitigated by 3-NOP (23% NOP_LC, 33% NOP_HC) (p < 0.001) and high CFP (12% CON, 22% 3-NOP groups) (CFP × TIME p < 0.001). Under the conditions of the present experiment, the CH₄ emissions of NOP_LC increased to the level of the CON groups from week 8 until the end of trial (3-NOP × CFP × TIME; p < 0.01). CO₂ yield decreased by 3-NOP and high CFP (3-NOP × CFP; p < 0.001). The reduced body weight loss and feed efficiency in HC groups paralleled a more positive energy balance being most obvious in NOP_HC (3-NOP × CFP; p < 0.001). ECM was lower for NOP_HC compared to CON_HC (3-NOP × CFP; p < 0.05), whereas LC groups did not differ. A decreased fat to protein ratio was observed in HC groups and, until week 6 post partum, in NOP_LC. Milk lactose and urea increased by 3-NOP (3-NOP; p < 0.05). 3-NOP and high CFP changed rumen fermentation to a more propionic-metabolic profile (3-NOP; CFP; p < 0.01) but did not affect rumen pH. In conclusion, CH₄ emission was synergistically reduced when high CFP was combined with 3-NOP while the CH₄ mitigating 3-NOP effect decreased with progressing time when the supplement was added to the high-forage ration. The nature of these interactions needs to be clarified.

The objective of this study was to determine whether dietary tea tree oil (TTO) supplementation could effectively replace the antibiotics through modulating the antioxidant capacity and intestinal microbiota profile, and then decreasing the diarrhoea incidence and improving the growth performance of weaned pigs. A total of 216 weaned pigs with initial body weights (BW) of 9.19 ± 1.86 kg were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments in a completely randomised design. The dietary treatments included a corn-soybean meal basal diet (CON) without any antibiotics, and two experimental diets formulated by adding 75 mg/kg aureomycin (AGP) or 100 mg/kg TTO into the basal diet, respectively. Pigs fed the TTO diet showed greater gain to feed ratio (p < 0.05) than those fed CON and AGP diets during d 0-14 and d 14-28. Both dietary TTO and AGP supplementation tended to increase the average daily gain of weaned pigs during d 14-28 (p = 0.06) and the overall 28-d period (p = 0.07), and significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the diarrhoea incidence during d 0-14 compared with the CON treatment. In addition, dietary TTO supplementation improved the apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter and ether extract (p < 0.05), and increased (p < 0.05) the propionate and butyrate concentrations in faecal samples of weaned pigs. Moreover, pigs fed the TTO diet showed greater total antioxidant capacity, greater superoxide dismutase and interleukin-10 concentrations, and lower malondialdehyde concentration in serum than those fed the CON diet (p < 0.05). Furthermore, pigs fed the TTO diet demonstrated greater relative abundance of Clostridiaceae_1, while those fed the AGP diet exhibited greater relative abundance of Lactobacillaceae at family level. In conclusion, dietary TTO supplementation could improve growth performance in weaned pigs, which could be mainly attributed to the benefits on nutrient digestibility, antioxidative capacity and microbial community profile.

Respiration experiments with high-yielding dairy cows in Northern Ireland have shown higher energy maintenance requirements than those used in the requirements standards of, e.g. France, UK, USA and Germany. Therefore, the current net energy for lactation (NEL) system of Germany was tested by comparing measured NEL intake with calculated NEL requirements based on a comprehensive dataset from feeding trials conducted at nine research institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The relationship between NEL requirements and NEL intake is described by the equation: