Effect of various levels of imbalance between energy and nitrogen supplies in the rumen on nitrogen metabolism in growing double-muscled Belgian Blue bulls fed maize silage based diet

Abstract

In a previous study, Valkeners et al. (2004) reported that feeding a concentrate-based diet with an imbalance between energy and N release in the rumen did not greatly influence the N balance of double-muscled Belgian Blue (dm-BB) bulls if daily ruminal degradable N (RDN) and fermentable OM (FOM) ratio did not exceed 6.2 g RDN/kg FOM. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of a higher level of imbalance between energy and N release in the rumen on microbial protein synthesis and N metabolism in dm-BB bulls fed maize silage based diet.