King Grass Silage Research Articles

Whole-Genome Analysis of Termite-Derived Bacillus velezensis BV-10 and Its Application in King Grass Silage.

Bacillus velezensis (B. velezensis) is a cellulose-degrading strain that has the potential as an additive in fermented feed. B. velezensis BV-10 was isolated and screened from the termite gut. We sequenced the whole genome of this new source of B. velezensis to reveal its potential for use in cellulose degradation. Whole-genome sequencing of B. velezensis BV-10 showed that it has a circular chromosome of 3929792 bp containing 3873 coding genes with a GC content of 45.51% and many genes related to cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin degradation. King grass silage was inoculated with B. velezensis BV-10 and mixed with other feed additives to assess the effect of B. velezensis BV-10 on the fermentation quality of silage. Six treatment groups were established: the control, B. velezensis BV-10, molasses, cellulase, B. velezensis BV-10 plus molasses, and B. velezensis BV-10 plus cellulase groups. After 30 days of silage-fermentation testing, B. velezensis BV-10 was found to rapidly reduce the silage pH value and significantly reduce the acid-detergent fiber (ADF) content (p < 0.05). The addition of B. velezensis BV-10 plus molasses and cellulase in fermented feed significantly reduced the silage neutral-detergent fiber and ADF content and promoted organic-acid accumulation (p < 0.05). The above results demonstrate that B. velezensis BV-10 promotes the fermentation quality of silage and that this effect is greater when other silage-fermentation additives are included. In conclusion, genes involved in cellulose degradation in B. velezensis BV-10 were identified by whole-genome sequencing and further experiments explored the effects of B. velezensis BV-10 and different feed additives on the fermentation quality of king grass silage, revealing the potential of Bacillus velezensis as a new silage additive.

Exploring the effect of wilting on fermentation profiles and microbial community structure during ensiling and air exposure of king grass silage.

In order to better understand the effect of wilting treatment on silage, we study analyzed the fermentation quality of unwilted (CK) and wilted (WT) king grass silage, and the dynamic changes of microorganisms in silage and aerobic exposure. After 30 days of silage, WT silage significantly reduced the pH of the silage (p < 0.05) and increased the contents of lactic acid and acetic acid (p < 0.05), but did not reduce the content of Ammonia-N (p > 0.05). Wilting treatment increased bacterial and fungal diversity during silage but decreased fungal diversity during aerobic exposure. The relative abundance of Lactococcus and Enterococcus in wilting silage increased. In the aerobic exposure stage, the relative abundance of Klebsiella decreased, but the relative abundance of Enterobacter increased in wilting treatment silage. In addition, the relative abundance of Acinetobacter and Ignatzschineria increased after 5 days of aerobic exposure. In contrast with unwilted silage, wilting treatment silage after aerobic exposure had no Candida, but the relative abundance of Wickerhamomyces increased. The results showed that wilting treatment could raise the silage quality of king grass. However, WT silage did not inhibit the reproduction of harmful microorganisms during aerobic exposure and did not significantly improve the aerobic stability of silage.

The Effect of Early and Delayed Harvest on Dynamics of Fermentation Profile, Chemical Composition, and Bacterial Community of King Grass Silage.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of harvesting time on the fermentation characteristics, chemical composition, and microbial community of king grass silage. King grass was harvested at three growth periods of 90 days (KN90S), 110 days (KN110S), and 130 days (KN130S); chopped into 2–3-cm particle size; and ensiled in polyethylene bags (20 × 30 cm). The fermentation quality and chemical composition of silages were analyzed after 1, 3, 7, 14, 30, and 60 days of ensiling. Bacterial community of silage ensiled for 60 days was profiled using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The KN110S showed the most extensive lactic acid (LA) fermentation during 7 days of fermentation compared to KN90S and KN130S. After 60 days of fermentation, the KN110S showed the lowest pH and the highest lactic acid content among the three treatments. The butyric acid and ammonia nitrogen contents of KN90S and KN130S were significantly greater than those of KN110S (p < 0.05). After a timespan of 60 days of ensiling, the bacterial community of king grass silage was predominantly populated by Proteobacteria in phylum level, whereas unclassified Enterobacteriaceae genus remained dominant in all silages. A higher relative abundance of Clostridium was observed in KN90S and KN130S, but not in KN110S, and greater abundance of Lactococcus appeared in KN110S and KN130S silages than KN90S. It is concluded that harvesting time had an important effect on the fermentation quality and microbial community of king grass silage.

Effects of Citric Acid and Lactobacillus plantarum on Silage Quality and Bacterial Diversity of King Grass Silage.

To better understand the mechanism underlying the citric acid (CA)-regulated silage fermentation, we investigated the bacterial community and fermentation quality of king grass (KG) ensiled without (CK) or with Lactobacillus plantarum (L), CA and the combination of L and CA (CAL). The bacterial community was characterized by using the 16Sr DNA sequencing technology. The L and CA treatments altered the silage bacterial community of KG, showing reduced bacterial diversity, while the abundance of desirable genus Lactobacillus was increased, and the abundances of undesirable genus Dysgonomonas and Pseudomonas were decreased. The additives also significantly raised the lactic acid content, dropped the pH, and reduced the contents of acetic acid, propionic acid, and ammonia-N in ensiled KG (P < 0.01). Besides, the combination treatment was more effective on silage fermentation with the highest pH and lactic acid content, while the contents of acetic acid, propionic acid, and ammonia-N were the lowest (P < 0.01). Moreover, CAL treatment exerted a notable influence on the bacterial community, with the lowest operational taxonomic unit (OTU) number and highest abundance of Lactobacillus. Furthermore, the bacterial community was significantly correlated with fermentation characteristics. These results proved that L and CA enhanced the KG silage quality, and the combination had a beneficial synergistic effect.

Silage fermentation, chemical composition and ruminal degradation of king grass, cassava foliage and their mixture

AbstractIn order to improve the fermentation quality and nutritional value of king grass (KG) by using available local feed resources, silages were prepared using KG, KG supplemented with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% fresh cassava foliage (CF), and CF. Their fermentation quality, chemical composition and ruminal degradation were examined after 30 days of ensiling. The results showed that CF silage contained 22.67% crude protein (CP) and 41.19% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) per dry matter (DM), while KG silage contained 8.36% CP and 60.44% NDF, indicating that KG silage had poor fermentation quality and low ruminal degradability. In addition, silage prepared with increased CF content had increased lactic acid, ether extract (EE), CP contents and relative feed value (p &lt; 0.05), decreased butyric acid, NDF and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents (p &lt; 0.05) and increased ruminal degradability of DM, CP, NDF and ADF (p &lt; 0.05). The results confirmed that CF supplementation could improve fermentation quality, chemical composition and ruminal degradation of mixed silage, and the optimal ratio of CF to KG for mixed silage was 50:50.

Effect of a mixed silage of king grass (Cenchrus purpureus) and forage legumes (Leucaena leucocephala or Gliricidia sepium) on sheep intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance

Ensiled king grass (Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone) is commonly used as feed in tropical ruminant production. However, ruminant performance can be limited by low nitrogen (N) content in tropical grass silage. A mixed feed of legume–king grass silage may be an option to improve ruminant production. We investigated the effects of feeding an ensiled mixture of king grass forage and foliage of a browse tree legume, either leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit) or gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp), on dry matter (DM) intake, DM digestibility, organic matter (OM) digestibility and N balance of Pelibuey sheep. Twelve male lambs 9–11 months old were blocked by initial bodyweight (33 ± 3 kg, mean ± s.d.) into three groups of four lambs and randomly assigned to one of three feed treatments: king grass silage (KS); mixed king grass and leucaena silage (KLS); and mixed king grass and gliricidia silage (KGS). Results showed that DM and OM were similar among silages. The N content was higher (P &amp;lt; 0.001) in KLS and KGS than in KS. DM intake and DM digestibility were higher (P &amp;lt; 0.001) in KLS and KGS than in KS. OM digestibility was higher (P &amp;lt; 0.001) in KLS than in KS. Nitrogen intake, faecal N, urine volume, urinary N, digested N, N digestibility, N retention and retained N:N intake ratio from KLS and KGS treatments were higher (P &amp;lt; 0.05) than from KS. A lower (P &amp;lt; 0.01) urinary N:N intake ratio was detected from KGS and KLS than from KS. This study demonstrated that, compared with silage made from king grass alone, legume–king grass silage mixtures can improve intake and nutrient digestibility in Pelibuey lambs. Further, N retention can be enhanced when legume–king grass silages are used as feed compared with king grass silage alone.

Effect of Addition of Liquid or Dry Inoculant of Lactic Acid Bacteria Containing Different Starches on the Fermentation Quality and in Vitro Nutrient Digestibility of King Grass Silage

Effect of Addition of Liquid or Dry Inoculant of Lactic Acid Bacteria Containing Different Starches on the Fermentation Quality and in Vitro Nutrient Digestibility of King Grass Silage

Associative effects of stylo and king grass silage different ratios on in vitro Rumen Fermentation

The study was aimed to evaluate the associative effects of mixtures of stylosanthe (Stylosanthes guianensis) and king grass (Pennisetum purpureum × P. americanum cv. Reyan No. 4) silage at different ratios using in vitro gas production technique. Three stylosanthes (S. guianensis Sw. Reyan No.2, S2; S. guianensis Sw. Reyan No.20, S20; S. guianensis Sw. Reyan No.21, S21) were mixed with king grass silage (K) at different ratios (0:100, 10:90, 20:80, 40:60, 50:50, 100:0) and their associative effects were evaluated using in vitro gas technique. The results showed that under the controlled conditions, addition of the mixtures of stylosanthes and king grass silage could improve in vitro gas production (GP), in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and microbial protein (MP) and promote the vitality of rumial microbes. In addition, most mixtures of stylosanthes and king grass silage showed positive associative effects and the mixtures at ratio of 20:80 had the best associative effect based on the synthetically associative effects index (SAEI).

Effect of lactic acid bacteria-treated King grass silage on the performance traits and serum metabolites in New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

This study examined the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum and Pediococcus acidilactici-treated silage of King grass (Pennisetum purpureophoides) on the productive traits and blood biochemistry of New Zealand white (NZW) rabbits. King grass was ensiled without or with L.plantarum (T1), P.acidilactici (T2) and P.acidilactici+L.plantarum (T3). A total of 72 male NZW rabbits (6weeks) of similar weight and appearance were housed in groups in metallic cages in a completely randomized design. The performance traits, daily feed intake, body weight gain and feed convention ratio were not affected by the silage treatment. Triglyceride and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentration was increased (p<.05) in T2 (0.92mmol/L) compared to the other treatments. The superoxide dismutase (SOD), phosphorous (P) and magnesium (Mg) increased (p<.05) in T1 (658.01nmol/ml, 5.1mg/kg and 2.43mg/kg, respectively) compared to the control and other experimental groups. Cu and Mn decreased (p<.05), while Zn increased (p<.05) in the treated groups compared to the control. The CP decreased (p<.05) in the treatment groups compared to the control. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) increased (p<.05) in T2 (54.40%) compared to the other treatments. The inoculation of lactic acid bacteria-treated King grass silage supplementation positively affected rabbit performance and improved blood cholesterol profile, antioxidant status and improve nutrients digestibility.

IMPROVING PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTIC AND PALATABILITY OF KING GRASS (Pennisetum hybrid) SILAGE BY INOCULATION OF Lactobacillus plantarum - Saccharomyces cerevisiae CONSORTIA AND ADDITION OF RICE BRAN

This study was conducted to determine effectiveness of inoculants consisted of lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp) and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) combined with addition of rice bran on the physico-chemical characteristics and palatability of king grass (Pennisetum hybrid) silage. The experiment was arranged on the factorial randomized design (3x3) consisting of the inoculants treatments (control, Lp, Lp+Sc) and the addition level of rice bran (0, 5 and 10%). The measured variables were physico-chemical characteristics i.e. colour, odour, pH, lactic acid, Fleigh points, and palatability of silage. Inoculation of Lp and Lp+Sc improved silage odour and reduced fungal contamination. Silage was treated by Lp+Sc and rice bran (5-10%) showed reduction of pH and an increase of lactic acid and Fleigh points. However, interaction between inoculants and rice bran treatment was not significance. Either inoculation or addition of rice bran tended to enhance the palatability of silage in cattle. It concluded that the addition of inoculants L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae with/without addition of 5-10% rice bran could improve the physico-chemical characteristics of silage and its palatability to ruminant.

Effects of sucrose, glucose, molasses and cellulase on fermentation quality and in vitro gas production of king grass silage

In order to improve silage quality of king grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumacher×Penicillium glaucum (Linnaeus) R. Brown) in high moisture environment of tropical area, the effects of sucrose, glucose, molasses and cellulase on fermentation quality and in vitro gas production of king grass silage were studied in Hainan, China. The king grass materials were freshly cut at vegetative stage. Silage was prepared by using a small-scale silage fermentation system, sucrose (SU, 2%), glucose (GL, 2%), molasses (MO, 2%) and cellulase (CE, 0.02%) were used as silage additives (on a fresh matter basis), their treatments were designed as (1) Control (without additives), (2) CE, (3) SU, (4) GL, (5) MO, (6) SU+CE, (7) GL+CE, and (8) MO+CE. These silos were kept at room temperature (25–30°C), and the silage qualities were analyzed after 30 days of fermentation. The moisture of material was 82.43%; their crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were 8.27, 65.39 and 46.18% on a dry matter basis, respectively. Silages treated with SU, GL and MO were well preserved with significantly (P<0.05) higher lactic acid content, but significantly (P<0.05) lower pH value, and butyric acid and ammonia-N contents compared with control. In addition, MO treatment resulted in better fermentation quality than other single treatments. Silage treated with mixtures of SU+CE, GL+CE and MO+CE increased lactic acid levels compared with control and single treatments, but did not significantly improved the fermentation quality. All additive treatments affected the chemical composition, increased the CP content, decreased the NDF and ADF contents (P<0.05), and enhanced the in vitro dry matter digestibility and metabolizable energy as estimated from in vitro gas production. When the fermentation quality, chemical composition and in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics were considered, the single treatment with carbohydrate or cellulase resulted in high quality of king grass silage, with MO having the best effect.

Karakteristik dan Kualitas Silase Rumput Raja Menggunakan Berbagai Sumber dan Tingkat Penambahan Karbohidrat Fermentable

(Characteristics and quality of king grass silages treated with various sources and level of carbohydrate fermentable)ABSTRACT . An experiment was carried out from April 1st up to August 18 th 2013. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of source and level fermentable carbohydrate as an additive on the characteristic of ensilage and the contents of crude protein and crude fibre of king grass silage. The methods of this study was experimental, by using Completely Randomized Design. There were 9 treatments, each of which consisted of three replications. The treatments were : A = 1 % of mollases; B = 2 % of mollases; C = 3 % mollases; D = 5 % of rice bran E = 10 % of rice bran; F = 15 % of rice bran; G = 5 % of of cassava cake; H = 10 % of of cassava cake; I = 15 % of cassava cake. Note: all percentages were on the basis of king grass fresh weight. The observed variable were physical characteristics (color, aroma, texture, fungi), pH, temperature, and nutrient contents (crude protein and crude fibre). The result of this study showed that the color change of the silage was as follow: at the 14th and 28th day. The treatment had highly significant effect (P 0.01) on the color, texture, and fungi of the silage and the content of crude protein, and had no significant effect (P0,05) on the aroma (smell), temperature, pH and crude fibre. The contrast orthogonal test to the color, aroma, infestation of fungy, crude protein, the treatment of ABC was different relative to those of DEFGHI treatments. This study could be conclude that by wilting of king grass (water content of 60 %), the 1–3 of 3 % of mollases snd 5-15 % usage of rice bran an additive the results are better compared to the usage with additive of cassava cake, viewed from silage’s physical quality as well as its nutrient contents.

English

Probiotic is a live microbial culture which has positive effect on animal by improving the natural balance of microflora in the digestive tract. This experiment aimed to screen and identify indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from rumen liquor and king grass (Pennisetum hybrid) silage as a probiotic candidate and to evaluate their resistance in low pH, and inhibitory activities against pathogenic bacteria. The LAB isolate was characterized by a clear zone formed on MRSA medium + CaCO3 0.2% (w/v) and further identified by morphological and biochemical assays. The selected isolates were evaluated for their viability in low pH, pathogenic bacterial inhibition, and lactic acid production. The experimental arrangement was a factorial block design (4 x 2) consisted of four isolates and two levels of pH value (pH 2 and 3), each treatment in 3 equal replicates. The result showed that four isolates (two isolates from the rumen liquor of fistulated cattle and two isolates from silage) were identified as lactic acid bacteria. The four isolates showed inhibition activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and performed viability at low pH during 2 h treatment. The highest lactic acid production was obtained from isolates Sil.3 (21.42%) and followed by CR2 (19.88%), CR1 (15.40%) and Sil.9 (15.08%). Biochemical identification by standard of analytical profile index (API) 50 CHL kit showed that the selected isolates CR1 was Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei 3 (91.5%), L. paracasei ssp. paracasei 3 (76.5%), Sil.3 was Lactobacillus brevis (95.1%), and Sil.9 was Lactobacillus collinoides (92.5%). In conclusion, probiotic candidates isolated from rumen liquor are confirmed as L. paracasei ssp. paracasei (CR1 and CR2), while two other isolates from king grass silage are identified as L. brevis (Sil.3) and L. collinoides (Sil.9). L. brevis (Sil.3) and L. paracasei ssp. paracasei (CR1) has higher inhibition against pathogenic bacteria (E. coli, S. aureus, and B. subtilis) than L. paracasei ssp. paracasei (CR2) and L. collinoides (Sil.9).

The Effect of King Grass Silage on the Nitrogen Balance and Hematological Profile of Ettawa Grade Male Goat

The aims of this research was to study the nutritional value of ensiled King Grass ( Pennisetum purpuphoides ) to be applied for goat. Twelve Ettawa grade male (PE), + 10 months old, and with average body weight of 19.45 + 3.03 kg were used to determine the voluntary intake, balance nitrogen and their hematological profile. All of the animals were randomly allotted at individual pens. Data were analyzed statistically using analysis of variance, based on completely randomized design arrangement with four treatments (level of King Grass silage) and three replicates. Treatment means were compared using Duncan multiple range test. The result showed that increasing level of King Grass silage within ration significantly increased the average dry matter (DM) intake per metabolic body weight. In fact, the daily DM intake, nitrogen balance, blood hemoglobin and blood hematocrit of the experimental animals were not affected by level of King Grass silage feed. Experiment had no bad effect on healthy condition of the treated goat, so it implies that conserving grass as silage and then feeding grass silage to goat might be implemented by farmers to secure the continuous supply of green forage to keep the goat production sustainability all year round. [ Keywords: silage, nitrogen balance, haemoglobin, haematocryt, goat ]

MICROBIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTIC AND FERMENTABILITY OF KING GRASS (Pennisetum hybrid) SILAGE TREATED BY LACTIC ACID BACTERIAYEAST INOCULANTS CONSORTIUM COMBINED WITH RICE BRAN ADDITION

This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of inoculants consortium consisted ofLactobacillus plantarum (Lp) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) and combined with rice bran additionon microbiological characteristic and fermentability of king grass (Pennisetum hybrid) silage. Effectivityof treatments was assessed by addition of inoculants (control, Lp, Lp+Sc) and level of rice bran (0, 5 and10%) which were arranged on Completely Randomized Design with Teatments Factors (3x3). Thevariables measured were total colonies of microbes (lactic acid bacteria, yeast and clostridia), total gasproduction, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia (NH3). Results showed that clostridial coloniescounted on silage treated by Lp and Lp+Sc around 37.5% and 68.7% in which lower than control.Addition of inoculants and rice bran increased fermentability of silage significantly (P&lt;0.05), howevertreatment had no affected (P&gt;0.05) on production of VFA and NH3. Gas production from silagefermentable fraction with inoculation of Lp (49.5 ml) and Lp+Sc (47.9 ml) higher than untreated silage(46.6 ml). It was concluded that the use of inoculants consortium consisted of L. plantarum and S.cerevisiae with rice bran addition improved fermentability and reduced clostridial colony in king grasssilage.

Characteristics of isolated lactic acid bacteria and their effectiveness to improve stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis Sw.) silage quality at various temperatures

Two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains, Pediococcus pentosaceus SC1 and Lactobacillus paraplantarum SC2 isolated from king grass silage, were characterized and their effectiveness to improve the silage fermentation quality of stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis Sw.) was studied. Strain SC1 was able to grow at a high temperature of 45°C, while SC2 did not. SC2 normally grew at a low pH of 4.0, while SC1 could not. These two strains and a commercial inoculant of LAB (L. plantarum, LP) were used as additives to stylo silage preparation at various temperatures (20°C, 30°C and 40°C). All LAB inoculants significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the pH value and ammonia-N content, and increased the ratio of lactic acid to acetic acid and quality score compared with the control. In addition, inoculating LAB strains markedly (P < 0.05) reduced butyric acid content at the temperatures of 30°C and 40°C. Compared to SC2 and LP strains, strain SC1 was the most effective for improving stylo silage quality at 20°C, indicated by the increase in lactic acid, ratio of lactic acid to acetic acid and quality score. At 30°C and 40°C, there were no significant differences among SC1, SC2 and LP treatments in pH values, contents of acetic acid, butyric acid and ammonia-N (P > 0.05).

Silage Quality of King Grass (Pennisetum purpureophoides) Treated with Epiphytic Lactic Acid Bacteria and Tannin of Acacia

The aim of this study was to evaluate the silage quality of king grass (Pennisetum purpureophoides) treated with addition of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) prepared from fermented grass extract (FGE) or combined with tannin of acacia. Experiment was arranged to a completely randomized design with six treatments and three replications. Treatments were (A) king grass without additive as a control; (B) king grass + 3% (v/w) of FGE; (C) king grass + 3% (v/w) of FGE + 10 ml of acacia extract (50 g/100 ml); (D) king grass + 3% of FGE (v/w) + 10 ml of acacia extract (50 g/75 ml); (E) king grass + 3% of FGE (v/w) + 10 ml of acacia extract (50 g/50 ml), and (F) king grass + 3% of FGE (v/w) + 10 ml of acacia extract (50 g/25 ml). About 250 g of silage materials were ensiled in 400 ml bottle silos at room temperatures (approximately 28 °C) for 30 days. Variables measured were characteristics of FGE, fermentation characteristics and chemical composition of silage. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and the significance differences among means were tested by the Duncan's multiple range test. Results showed that the number of lactic acid bacteria in FGE increased from 0.8 × 107 cfu/ml to 2.9 × 107 cfu/ml after 2 days anaerobic incubation. Concentration of lactic acid in silages with addition of FGE or combined with tannin of acacia (B, C, D, E, and F) were higher (P3-N decreased with increasing concentration of tannin. Butyric acid concentration decreased in silages B, C, D, E, and F as compared to that in silage A. Addition of FGE combined with tannin prepared from acacia leaf improved fermentation quality of king grass silage.

Caractéristiques fermentaires, ingestion volontaire et digestibilité de l’ensilage de Pennisetum King Grass chez le mouton djallonké

A study was carried out on fermentable properties, voluntary intake and digestibility of Pennisetum King Grass silage fed to djallonke sheep. The silage had a pH of 3.8 and the main fermentation end products was 2.8% of total-N for the ammonia nitrogen (N-NH3), 19.6 g/Kg DM of acetic acid and 22.0 g/Kg DM of ethanol. Dried matter intake was 60.42gDM/Kg0.75 per day and digestibility showed no significant differences for dried matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude fiber (CF) and ether extract (EE). Digestibility was significantly lower (P

Glucose Kinetics for Milk Synthesis in Etawah Crossbred Goats Fed King Grass Silage Prepared with Manure

A study was carried out to determine glucose kinetics, nutrient balance and milk production of lactating Etawah crossbred goats. The animals (27.2 to 29.1 kg BW) were randomly divided into four levels of dietary treatment groups: the first group R1 received 100% (3 kg) fresh king grass (Penisetum purpuroides), the second group R2 received 75% king grass and 25% king grass silage prepared with chicken manure, the third group R3 received 50% king grass and 50% silage, and the fourth group R4 received 100% silage. In addition to the roughage, each group received 800 g of concentrate (CP 14.77% of DM; 17.26 MJ/kg). Animals fed king grass silage made with chicken manure were found to be superior to the group fed king grass alone. Glucose kinetics and retained energy were significantly affected. Calculations showed that glucose requirements for maintenance and milk production can be met for the groups with high levels of silage (R3 and R4). The values of glucose flux were in the range of 2.52 to 4.50 mg/min.kg BW 0.807 which are lower, but close to, the values for the temperate lactating dairy cow. The present glucose flux value for the lactating Etawah crossbred goat is higher than the previous value published from this laboratory. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2002. Vol 15, No. 7 : 982-985)