Feeding Corn Research Articles

870 In vitro and in situ digestion characteristics and feedlot performance of cattle fed steam-flaked Enogen (high-amylase) feed corn

870 In vitro and in situ digestion characteristics and feedlot performance of cattle fed steam-flaked Enogen (high-amylase) feed corn

Persistence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Total Escherichia coli in Feces and Feedlot Surface Manure from Cattle Fed Diets with and without Corn or Sorghum Wet Distillers Grains with Solubles

Feeding corn wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS) to cattle can increase the load of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feces and on hides, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. The objective of these experiments was to examine a role for the persistence of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces and feedlot pen surfaces of cattle fed WDGS. In the first study, feces from steers fed 0, 20, 40, or 60% corn WDGS were inoculated with E. coli O157:H7. The E. coli O157:H7 numbers in feces from cattle fed 0% corn WDGS rapidly decreased (P < 0.05), from 6.28 to 2.48 log CFU/g of feces by day 14. In contrast, the E. coli O157:H7 numbers in feces from cattle fed 20, 40, and 60% corn WDGS were 4.21, 5.59, and 6.13 log CFU/g of feces, respectively, on day 14. A second study evaluated the survival of E. coli O157:H7 in feces from cattle fed 0 and 40% corn WDGS. Feces were collected before and 28 days after the dietary corn was switched from high-moisture corn to dry-rolled corn. Within dietary corn source, the pathogen persisted at higher concentrations (P < 0.05) in 40% corn WDGS feces at day 7 than in 0% WDGS. For 40% corn WDGS feces, E. coli O157:H7 persisted at higher concentrations (P < 0.05) at day 7 in feces from cattle fed high-moisture corn (5.36 log CFU/g) than from those fed dry-rolled corn (4.27 log CFU/g). The percentage of WDGS had no effect on the E. coli O157:H7 counts in feces from cattle fed steam-flaked corn-based diets containing 0, 15, and 30% sorghum WDGS. Greater persistence of E. coli O157:H7 on the pen surfaces of animals fed corn WDGS was not demonstrated, although these pens had a higher prevalence of the pathogen in the feedlot surface manure after the cattle were removed. Both or either the greater persistence and higher numbers of E. coli O157:H7 in the environment of cattle fed WDGS may play a part in the increased prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle by increasing the transmission risk.

Optimal Temperature Selection for Energy Integrated Multiple-Effect Evaporator System

Multiple-effect evaporators (MEEs) are energy-intensive equipment, used for increasing the concentration of the solution. In order to minimize its energy consumption, it can be integrated with the background process. Energy consumption can also be minimized by integrating MEE with thermo-vapor compressor (TVC). A significant energy saving can be achieved by simultaneously integrating the MEE, TVC, and the background process streams. The present study focuses on the optimal integration of MEE, TVC, and background process stream by appropriately selecting the TVC operating temperature and the MEE effect temperatures. Selection criteria of appropriate temperatures are rigorously derived in this study. Based on the mathematical results, a methodology is proposed and is demonstrated through two illustrative examples: a forward feed corn glucose system and a parallel feed desalination system. By selection of the optimal temperatures, energy consumption for corn glucose system is observed to be reduced by 42%, with additional reductions in annual cost of 34%. Similarly, for the desalination system, the external steam requirement and the cost of producing freshwater can be reduced by 54% and 39% through appropriate selection of temperatures.

The effect of corn or beet pulp silage supplemented diet on production parameters, oxidative stability of muscles and fatty acid composition of abdominal fat in geese

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the production parameters of White Koluda® geese fed with a corn or beet pulp silage supplemented diet. The oxidative stability of breast and thigh muscles during frozen storage and the fatty acid composition of abdominal fat were also investigated. Measurements were carried out on a total of 42 geese of the White Koluda® W31 strain that were divided into three experimental groups: group I (control) - basal diet, group II - basal diet with corn silage addition, group III - basal diet with pressed beet pulp silage addition. Diets containing ad libitum maize silage or sugar beet pulp silage supplemented with a limited amount of commercial diets, significantly reduced BW (about 9%) and ADG (about 27%) of birds compared to the control group in the 14th week of rearing. Feeding corn or sugar beet pulp silage to geese did not affect pH values, heme iron content, colour parameters but decreased lipid oxidation values in muscles 3 days after slaughter. The abdominal fat of geese fed with the pressed beet pulp silage supplemented diet was characterized by a significantly higher content of myristic and linoleic acid and a lower content of oleic acid. In conclusion, feeding geese with limited amount of commercial mixtures supplemented with maize or sugar beet pulp silages may be recommended primarily for increasing financial efficiency in White Koluda® geese farms but also for improving the quality of goose carcasses, due to their low fat and high quality of meat.

Critical Zone services as environmental assessment criteria in intensively managed landscapes

AbstractThe Critical Zone (CZ) includes the biophysical processes occurring from the top of the vegetation canopy to the weathering zone below the groundwater table. CZ services provide a measure for the goods and benefits derived from CZ processes. In intensively managed landscapes, cropland is altered through anthropogenic energy inputs to derive more productivity, as agricultural products, than would be possible under natural conditions. However, the actual costs of alterations to CZ functions within landscape profiles are unknown. Through comparisons of corn feed and corn‐based ethanol, we show that valuation of these CZ services in monetary terms provides a more concrete tool for characterizing seemingly abstract environmental damages from agricultural production systems. Multiple models are combined to simulate the movement of nutrients throughout the soil system, enabling the measurement of agricultural anthropogenic impacts to the CZ's regulating services. Results indicate water quality and atmospheric stabilizing services, measured by soil carbon storage, carbon respiration, and nitrate leaching, among others, can cost more than double that of emissions estimated in previous studies. Energy efficiency in addition to environmental impact is assessed to demonstrate how the inclusion of CZ services is necessary in accounting for the entire life cycle of agricultural production systems. These results conclude that feed production systems are more energy efficient and less environmentally costly than corn‐based ethanol.

SUBSTITUTION OF CORN USING CASSAPRO (CASSAVA PROTEIN) IN FEED ON PERFORMANCES OF KAMPUNG CHICKEN

This research was conducted at The Animal Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, SumateraUtara University from December 2015 to March 2016. This research aimed to determine the ability of cassapro to substitute corn in feed on the performances of kampung chicken. Experimental design used in this research was completely randomized design (CRD) with 5 treatments and 4 replications. Each treatment consisted of comparison between corn and cassapro at ratio 60:0 (P0), 50:10 (P1), 40:20 (P2), 30:30 (P3), 20:40 (P4). 100 kampung chickens was used in this research with replications consists of 5 DOC. The results showed that the average of feed consumption (g/head/week) on treatment P0, P1, P2, P3 and P4 respectively 327,9; 327,3; 326,93; 325,77 and 326,33. The average of body weight gain (g/head/week) on treatment P0, P1, P2, P3 and P4 respectively 56,46; 59,47; 60,79; 56,44 and 56,74 also the FCR on treatment P0, P1, P2, P3 and P4 respectively 5,82; 5,52; 5,38; 5,79 and 5,7. The anova result showed that there is no difference from treatments on tested parameters. The conclution of this research is that cassapro have the ability to substitute corn in kampung chicken’s feed.

Feeding finishing heavy pigs with corn silages: effects on backfat fatty acid composition and ham weight losses during seasoning

The effect of diets containing corn silages (whole ear or high cut whole plant corn silages, WECS and HCCS, respectively) on fatty acid composition of back fat and the weight loss of thighs during the seasoning process were examined in Italian heavy pigs (from 90 to 160 kg of live weight). Two trials were conducted in the same farm, following an identical experimental protocol. In both trials, a control diet, based on dry corn, barley, wheat, extracted soybean meal, wheat bran and supplement (47, 23, 10, 9, 8 and 3% dry matter (DM), respectively) was compared with a diet containing 30% DM of WECS (trial 1) or 20% DM of HCCS (trial 2) in substitution of bran and part of the corn. The initial fresh weight of thighs was very homogeneous between the two trials and only at the end of seasoning the hams from pigs fed the corn silage diets were slightly lighter (of about 0.5 kg, p < .05). The dietary inclusion of corn silages determined a significant increase of the saturated fraction of the back fat (from 40.6 to 41.9%, p < .05), mainly due to the increase of the C 18:0 fatty acid (from 14.3 to 15.2%, p < .05). Overall, the calculated iodine value was favourable for the fat of pigs fed silages (62.63 vs. 64.24, p = .05). In conclusion, feeding corn silages to heavy pigs has limited impact on seasoning ham losses and can slightly improve backfat quality, in terms of fatty acid composition.

Porosity development and reactivity changes of coal–biomass blends during co-pyrolysis at various temperatures

While co-firing of coal and biomass represents an inexpensive, efficient, short-range future method to incorporate more renewable fuels into our energy generation portfolio, we know little about how U.S. domestic coals and biomasses behave together. Computational fluid dynamics models are routinely used to model combustion of solids in packed and fluidized beds, for which porosity changes are a key variable to predicting heterogeneities in transport and fuel reactivity. This work probes the changes in carbon contents, thermal reactivities, surface areas, and porosities as a function of blend ratio and pyrolysis temperature for a series of Pennsylvania coal and feed corn stover biomass blends. There is a fairly linear trend between both percent biomass in a blend and pyrolysis temperature with volatile matter content of the char; this additive nature of the blended streams does not extend to surface area and porosity. Surface areas (measured by N2 adsorption isotherms) peaked for the pure coal and 10wt% biomass peaks around 600°C, and for the 20 and 50wt% biomass and pure biomass between 600 and 750°C. The surface area decreases for all samples when the pyrolysis temperature reaches 900°C. Generally, higher temperatures led to enhanced microporosity across all fuels and blends, though this was not a linear trend. Of keen interest to co-firing scenarios was the disappearance of segregated oxidation behavior of the coal–biomass blends at pyrolysis temperatures as low as 300°C, suggesting that co-firing could be improved by preheating the comingled fuels and low temperatures before their introduction into the boiler.

Feeding corn distillers grains as an energy source to gestating and lactating beef heifers: Impact of excess protein on feedlot performance, glucose tolerance, carcass characteristics and Longissimus muscle fatty acid profile of steer progeny.

This study was conducted to determine the impact of dried distiller's grain with solubles (DDGS) from 192 days of gestation through 118 days of lactation on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, Longissimus muscle (LM) fatty acids and glucose tolerance of male progeny (n=36). Angus-Simmental heifer dams were fed diets that contained either DDGS (DG) or not (CON) formulated to provide similar daily net energy for gain but differing crude protein. In the feedlot, male progeny were fed a diet devoid of DDGS. An intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was performed on a subset of 20 steers prior to harvest. Steers were harvested at a common 12th rib fat depth. Data were analyzed with the GLIMMIX and MIXED procedures of SAS. Performance (P≥0.11) and glucose and insulin concentrations during IVGTT (P≥0.24) did not differ between treatments. Dressing percentage tended to be greater (P=0.09) in DG than CON progeny, but all other carcass characteristics did not differ (P≥0.18). Progeny from DG dams had greater LM 16:2, 18:0, and 20:1 n-9 concentrations than progeny from CON dams (P≤0.02). In conclusion, DDGS are a viable option for gestating and lactating beef cows.

Effects of liquid feeding of corn condensed distiller\u2019s solubles and whole stillage on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and sensory traits of pigs

BackgroundThe immense growth in global bioethanol production has greatly increased the supply of by-products such as whole stillage and condensed distiller’s solubles, which could be potentially used for animal feeding. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of liquid feeding high levels of corn condensed distiller’s solubles (CCDS) and whole stillage (CWS) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, belly firmness and meat sensory traits of pigs.MethodsA total of 256 pigs were blocked by sex and initial BW (13.5 ± 2.5 kg), and pens of pigs (8 pigs/pen) were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 dietary treatments (8 pens/treatment): 1) corn-soybean meal based diet as control, 2) 25% CWS + 5% CCDS, 3) 19.5% CWS + 10.5% CCDS, and 4) 19.5, 26, and 32.5% CWS + 10.5, 14, and 17.5% CCDS in phases 1 (28 d), 2 (38 d), and 3 (60 d), respectively. Inclusion levels of CCDS and CWS for Treatments 1, 2, and 3 were fixed during all the three phases of the experiment. Inclusion levels of CWS and CCDS were on 88% dry matter basis. The liquid feeding system delivered feed from the mixing tank to feed troughs by high-pressure air, had sensors inside feed troughs, and recorded daily feed intake on the basis of a reference feed intake curve. The pigs were fed 5 to 10 times per day with increasing frequency during the experiment.ResultsControl pigs had greater (P < 0.05) average daily gain (0.91 vs. 0.84, 0.85, 0.85 kg/d) and gain to feed ratio (0.37 vs. 0.33, 0.34, 0.34) than pigs in the other three treatments during the overall period. Compared with the control, the other three groups had (P < 0.05) or tended to have (P < 0.10) lower carcass weight and backfat depth due to lighter (P < 0.05) slaughter body weight, but similar (P > 0.10) dressing percentage, loin muscle depth, and lean percentage were observed among the four treatments. Inclusion of CWS and CCDS reduced (P < 0.05) or tended to reduce (P < 0.10) belly firmness but did not influence (P > 0.10) the overall like, flavor, tenderness and juiciness of loin chops when compared with the control group.ConclusionIn conclusion, our results indicate that including 30–50% of a mixture of whole stillage and condensed distiller’s solubles in the growing-finishing diets may reduce growth performance, carcass weight and belly firmness, but does not affect pork sensory traits.

Effects of dietary supplementation of organic minerals on the performance of broiler chicks fed oxidised soybean oil

SummaryThe oxidation (rancidity) of fat is a very common feed quality issue, which can negatively affect growth performance and meat quality of broilers. Besides other factors, metal ions such as Zn, Cu and Fe can facilitate lipid peroxidation in feed. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of feeding corn soy diets containing fresh or oxidised soybean oil with different forms of microminerals on production performance of broiler chicks. Dietary treatments consisted of a 2 × 2 factorial structure with two kinds of soybean oil (oxidised or fresh) and two forms of microminerals (inorganic or organic). Mineral proteinate (Bioplex®, Alltech Inc.) including Zn, Mn, Cu and Fe was used as the organic source and was supplemented at the level equivalent to 25% of an inorganic source in the control diets. Organic selenium (Sel-Plex®, Alltech Inc.) at 0.3 mg/kg of diet was used to replace sodium selenite used at 0.3 mg/kg of diet in control diet. Oxidised soybean oil was prepared by convection heat (90°C for a period of seven days in a convection oven). A total of 1152 one-day old chicks were allotted randomly to the four dietary treatments using 12 replicates of 24 chicks per pen. Chicks were raised in floor pens for 42 days in an environmentally controlled room with free access to feed and water. There was no statistical interaction between oil source and mineral form on performance or mineral content of breast meat. Feeding oxidised oil increased (P &lt; 0.05) feed intake and decreased gain to feed ratio (FCE) of chicks. Supplementation with organic minerals improved (P &lt; 0.05) weight gain and FCE of chicks. The breast meat of chicks fed organic mineral had higher (P &lt; 0.01) Se content than those from the control group. The results indicated that the addition of organic minerals to broiler diets can minimise the negative impact of oxidised oil on the performance of broiler chicks.

Pengaruh variasi kecepatan udara dan massa bahan terhadap waktu pengeringan jagung pada alat fluidized bed

Indonesia is an agricultural country that has many agricultural products so that post-harvest handling is necessary so that the crop is not quickly broken when stored or distributed. One harvests in Indonesia, which require post-harvest handling such as corn. Based on SNI, the maximum moisture content of corn feed raw material has a moisture content of 14%. The water content of the corn used is 20% with a tolerance of ± 0.5%. Variations air speed used is 5 m /s, 6 m /s and 7 m /s with a variation of the mass of material that is 0.5 kg, 1 kg, and 1.5 kg. With the variation of air velocity and mass of the material showed that the higher the speed of the air, the faster drying time. In addition, the heavier material is drained, it will take longer. Variations of air velocity and mass of materials that require the fastest drying time is the air speed of 7 m /s with a mass of 0.5 kg. Variations of air velocity and mass of material that takes the longest drying air is at a speed of 5 m / s with a mass of 1.5 kg of material.

Comparison between the Effect of Feeding Corn Silage or Berseem as a Basal Diet on: 1- Milk Production and Economic Efficiency of Lactating Friesian Cows.

Comparison between the Effect of Feeding Corn Silage or Berseem as a Basal Diet on: 1- Milk Production and Economic Efficiency of Lactating Friesian Cows.

Survey on fungi contamination and natural occurrence of mycotoxins in 94 corn feed ingredients collected from China

Objective: To investigate fungi contamination and the natural occurrence of mycotoxins in corn feed ingredients collected from China. Methods: A total of 94 corn feed ingredient samples were collected from 8 Chinese provinces(i.e., Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, and Shandong)in February 2014. A tandem ultra-performance liquid chromatographymass spectrometry method was used for simultaneous detection of twelve kinds of mycotoxins, including aflatoxin(AF), type A and type B tricothecenes, and zearalenone(ZEN). Contaminated fungi were also identified and counted. Results: AF was detected in 36.2%(34/94)of samples; the concentration of AFB1 was the highest in the four AFs with the range: 0.3~181.3 μg/kg; and then followed by AFB2(range: 1.0-74.3 μg/kg). There were 7 samples(7.5%)with AFB1 concentrations higher than the tolerance limit of 50 μg/kg. The concentration of type A tricothecenes in all samples was lower(0.1-10.5 μg/kg). DON had the most serious contamination than other kind of type B tricothecenes(range: 0.7-606.6 μg/kg; median: 66.3 μg/kg). The DON concentration in all samples was below the tolerance limit of 1 000 μg/kg. ZEN was detected in 76.6%(72/ 94)of samples(median: 36.9 μg/kg), with 3 samples having ZEN concentrations higher than the tolerance limit of 500 μg/kg. The survey on fungi contamination showed that all samples were contaminated by fungi(range: 5.0-1.4×105 CFU/g). There were 18 and 3 samples with quantities of fungi higher than the tolerance and forbidden limits, respectively. The Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Trichoderma and Mucor genuses were the predominant fungi in corn feed ingredients, with detection rates of 71.3%(67), 60.6%(57), 71.3%(67), 27.7%(26), and 24.5%(23), respectively. The detection rate of Fusarium moniliforme, 73.4%(69/94)was higher than that of Aspergillus flavus, 41.5%(39/94). Conclusion: In this survey, the corn feed ingredients were not seriously contaminated by AF and type A tricothecenes but mainly contaminated by type B trichothecenes, including DON and its derivatives, as well as ZEN. They were also contaminated by fungi such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium.

Milk fatty acids profiles and milk production from dairy cows fed different forage quality diets.

Thirty lactating Holstein cows were used to investigate the effects of different forages quality on milk fatty acids (FA) profiles and production. The cows were assigned to 3 dietary treatments (n = 10 per treatment) in a randomized block design with 3 repeated measures. They were fed the experimental diets for 90 d with 3 days of collection of samples for analysis at about 27 d intervals (samples were collected on days 28, 29, 30, 58, 59, 60, 88, 89 and 90). The treatments were (DM basis): 1) mixed forages diet (MF) consisting of 3.7% Chinese wild rye, 26.7% corn silage and 23.4% alfalfa hay; 2) corn stalk diet 1 (CS1) where corn stalk was used to formulate a similar chemical nutrient level to MF; 3) corn stalk diet 2 (CS2) which used corn stalk to formulate a similar forage level to MF for the diet. Dry matter intake and BW were similar between treatments, but daily milk yield, milk fat and protein yield decreased (P < 0.05) in CS1 and CS2 compared with MF, with CS2 being the lowest (P < 0.05). In total FA of milk, the compositions of C18:1c9, C18:3 and unsaturated FA increased (P < 0.05) in CS1 and CS2 compared with MF, and C18:0 and trans-C18:1 were trended to increase (P < 0.10), but C4:0-C16:0 were decreased (P < 0.05). Compared with cows fed CS2, cows receiving CS1 increased the compositions of C4:0 to C12:0 and C18:2 (P < 0.05). The results suggests feeding corn stalk could produce a greater proportion of unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) in milk fat without resulting in milk fat depression (MFD) in mid lactation cows, but simply increasing the ratio of concentrate in low forages diets is not an effective way to increase milk fat synthesis and milk production.

Processing corn in ruminant feed

In times of search technologies to improve livestock productivity without, however, charge the costs of production, studies involving maximizing digestive efficiency depending on the use of processed foods have great potential. The processing of corn promotes changes in the site of starch digestion, in the total utilization of food and diet, as well as providing substantial changes in the rumen. In this sense, the objective of this review is to present methods of processing corn, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques, focusing on the feeding of ruminants.

Effects of long-term feeding of corn co-product-based diets on growth, fillet color, and fatty acid and amino acid composition of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

We conducted a 24-week feeding trial with Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus to evaluate the effects of long-term feeding of corn co-product-based diets on growth, fillet color, and fillet fatty acid and amino acid composition. Five iso-nitrogenous diets were prepared (34% protein). The control diet included 10% fishmeal. Fishmeal was eliminated from the other four diets, and 50% of the dietary protein was supplied by one of four corn co-products, namely high-protein distillers' dried grains (HPDDG), distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS), corn gluten meal (CGM), and corn protein concentrate (CPC). Fish with an initial mean weight of 21g were fed one of the five diets twice a day to near satiety. Fish fed the control, HPDDG, or DDGS diet had significantly higher (P<0.05) mean weight gain, specific growth rates, mean feed intake, protein efficiency ratio, and survival than those fed the other diets. Fish in these three treatments also had the lowest food conversion ratio. The dietary treatments did not affect the lightness, redness, yellowness, or crude protein and total amino acid content of fish fillets. Fillet lipid and ash content were highest in the CGM group. Fillet fatty acid composition was greatly affected by the dietary treatments. The CGM and CPC groups had significantly highest palmitic acid (16:0) and total saturated fatty acid levels, whereas linoleic acid (18:2n−6) and total polyunsaturated fatty acid levels were highest in the DDGS group. Similarly, the total n−6 level was highest in the DDGS group, followed by HPDDG. The total n−3 levels and n−3:n−6 ratios in the fillets of the control group were almost double those of the corn-based dietary groups. Our results suggest that dietary inclusion of HPDDG or DDGS in non-fishmeal diets at up to 50% of dietary protein does not negatively affect growth performance, feed utilization efficiency, or fillet color and amino acid composition, but further improvement of n−3 fatty acid composition is necessary to ensure human health benefits. Statement of relevanceFishmeal free diets ensure the sustainability of aquaculture.

The effects of population densities and diet on Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) life parameters

The effects of population densities (10, 25, 50 and 100 adults/50 g) and three diet types (protein-rich, carbohydrates-rich and compound feed) on life parameters (first emergence, development rate, number of progeny and body weight) of T. castaneum progeny were assessed. For each diet type and population density unsexed adults were allowed to feed and oviposit for 7 days before removal.No progeny developed on protein-rich diets (sunflower meal, soybean concentrate, and corn gluten). In carbohydrates-rich diets (corn feed flour, wheat bran, coarse wheat) and compound feed for pigs and laying hens, first adults required the least time to emerge in wheat bran and control diet (wheat flour + 5% yeast) (15.2–16.5 days), and the longest in corn feed flour (23.1–24.5 days). In wheat bran and control diets, the adult emergence period was the shortest (15.7 and 15.2 days) at the initial population densities of 100 and 50 adults/50 g, and significantly longest (16.5 and 16 days) at the lowest density. Conversely, adults fed on feed for hens diet emerged the latest, after 22.5 days, at the population density of 100 adults/50 g, and the earliest, after 18.6 days, at 25 adults/50 g. The shortest period of adult emergence at all population densities was found in the control (15.9–20.2 days) and wheat bran (18–29.7 days), and the longest in feed for hens (56.2 days) and pigs (59.5 days) at the highest population density. Considering all densities, number of progeny were the highest in control diet (498-1226 adults) and wheat bran (354-1344 adults), and lowest in coarse wheat (220-300 adults). With increasing population density, progeny body weight decreased, and the highest weight was found in control diet and wheat bran (1.7 and 1.6 mg) at the lowest population density, and the lowest weight (1.0 mg) in hen and pig feeds at the highest density.

Crude glycerin as a replacement for corn in starter feed: performance and metabolism of pre-weaned dairy calves

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of partial replacement of corn in the starter feed with crude glycerin on performance and energy metabolism of liquid-fed dairy calves. Twenty-four newborn individually housed Holstein calves were blocked according to weight and date of birth and randomly assigned to different starter feed treatments during 8 weeks: no crude glycerin; 5% crude glycerin; 10% crude glycerin on dry matter basis. All calves were individually fed daily 4 L of a commercial milk replacer (22.3% crude protein and 19.3% fat). Calves had individual access to starter diet and ad libitum access to water daily. Individual feed intake and faecal scores were recorded daily. Bodyweight and corporal measurements (heart girth, hip width, and withers height) were weekly recorded. From the second week of age, blood samples were collected weekly, 2 h after morning feeding, for determination of plasma glucose and β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations. Ruminal fluid was collected at 4, 6 and 8 weeks of age for determination of pH and short-chain fatty acids. At the end of the eighth week, animals were harvested to evaluate development of the proximal digestive tract. Feed intake, average daily gain, bodyweight or body measurements were not affected (P &gt; 0.05) by the inclusion of crude glycerin in the starter feed. Faecal scores indicated that most of the calves had mild diarrhoea, with no treatment effect. Total short-chain fatty acids and the concentration of individual acids, as well as blood parameters, were not affected (P &gt; 0.05) by the feed treatments. The total forestomach weight, the average weight of each compartment, the maximum capacity of reticulum-rumen, and papillae number, height and width were not affected (P &gt; 0.05). In conclusion, crude glycerin can be used as an alternative energy source, replacing corn up to 10% in the starter feed for liquid-fed dairy calves without affecting growth, rumen development or metabolism.

English

An experiment was conducted to determine apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) of commonly used cereals and cereal by-products in poultry diet. Three samples each of corn, rice broken (RB), rice polishings (RP) and wheat bran (WB) were assayed for AMEn by substitution method using 21-days-old broilers. The 12 experimental diets (4 ingredients x 3 samples) were formulated by substituting the corn-soybean meal basal diet with 30% test ingredients. The acid insoluble ash was added at 1% of all diets. The 468 day-old male broiler chicks (Hubbard x Hubbard) were reared on basal diet from day 1 to 13 and thereafter, experimental diets were offered ad libitum to birds from 14 to 21days. Each diet was offered to 36 birds, equally distributed to six replicate pens. The basal diet continued to feed the birds of six replicates from day 14 to 21. The excreta samples were collected from day 19‒21 to calculate AMEn. The average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. Data regarding ADFI, ADG, FCR and AMEn were analyzed using GLM procedures of SAS while means were partitioned by t-test. The ADFI, ADG, FCR and AMEn remained unaltered (P>0.05) by feeding diets based on samples of same feed ingredient except the RP and WB. The birds fed RP and WB based diets showed varying (P<0.05) AMEn among the samples. The birds fed corn substituted basal diet had higher (P<0.05) ADG (56.03 g) followed by RB (50.04 g), WB (45.87 g) and RP (43.61 g) diets. The ADFI of broilers fed corn diets was highest (P<0.05) while it was lowest with RB based diets. The birds showed improved (P<0.05) FCR by feeding RB diet followed by corn, WB and RP diets. The average AMEn of RB and corn was 3372 and 3315 kcal/kg, respectively. In cereal by-products, the RP and WB had 1936 and 1760 kcal/kg AMEn, respectively. In conclusion, varying growth pattern of broilers was observed by feeding corn, RB, RP and WB substituted diets. The RB and RP’s AMEn was higher in cereals and cereal by-products, respectively. © 2016 Friends Science Publishers