Abstract
Two cows were used in the trials. They received timothy hay as their only feed. As the antibiotic doses were increased during the experiment, the cows’ hay consumption decreased. The maximum zinc bacitracin doses were 80—100 mg per kg live weight. Sieve fractionations of the faeces were made to investigate the efficiency of the mastication of the feed. The crude faeces fractions increased with increases in the zinc bacitracin doses, indicating that the mastication of the food was depressed. Lignin was used as an indicator when investigating the digestibility of the food. The results show that zinc bacitracin depressed the digestibility of the plant cell wall substances. There was also a decrease in the digestibility of the other constituents of the hay.
Highlights
The results show that zinc bacitracin depressed the digestibility of the plant cell wall substances
The case ofruminants is in a class by itself as regards antibiotics given as a feed supplement
The purpose of this study is to study the effect of large oral antibiotic doses on the voluntary intake, mastication and digestibility of hay in adult cows
Summary
The crude faeces fractions increased with increases in the zinc bacitracin doses, indicating that the mastication of the food was depressed. The results show that zinc bacitracin depressed the digestibility of the plant cell wall substances.
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