Normal Ration Research Articles

A Soybean and Silage Ration for Dairy Cows

Summary Cows yielding as much as 50 pounds of milk daily (one cow averaged 40 lbs. daily during experimental period) were successfully carried over a period of 22 weeks on silage, fed ad libitum , and soybeans, fed at the rate of 1 pound per 5 pounds of milk produced. The silage was corn silage, sorghum silage or sorghum silage supplemented with 1 pound of corn per 20 pounds of silage. Bonemeal and salt were also provided. Silage consumption averaged about 6 pounds daily per hundred pounds live weight. Up to 9 pounds daily of soybeans were consumed by a single cow. No indications of nutritional deficiencies were observed. The cows practically maintained their weight while being fed soybeans and silage. As compared with paired cows on a normal grain and roughage ration the cows on the experimental ration produced slightly less milk but more butterfat. These differences were not statistically significant. The cows receiving the experimental ration produced milk with a significantly higher percentage of butterfat in it than did the cows on normal feed. No differences were found in the protein content of the milk produced by the two lots of cows, but there were significant differences in the iodine, Reichert-Meissl, and Polenske values. The iodine number was raised and the Reichert-Meissl and Polenske numbers were lowered by the experimental feeding. The experimental ration of soybeans and silage caused no marked change in milk flavor.

The Absorption and Retention of Carotene and Vitamin A by Hens on Normal and Low Fat Rations: One Figure

The Absorption and Retention of Carotene and Vitamin A by Hens on Normal and Low Fat Rations: One Figure

The Intake and Output of Fat by the Hen on Low Fat and Normal Ration

BALANCE studies of various dietary factors have been conducted with the chicken as the experimental subject, but scarcely any consideration has been given to the intake and output of fat by this species. Guntherberg (1930) has reported on the digestion of the fat of cereals by hens. The object of the present investigation was the determination of the intake and output of fat by the laying and non-laying hen on normal and low fat rations, to determine the effect of the deprivation of fat on egg production, and the extent to which the chicken can synthesize fat for egg production.EXPERIMENT 1This experiment was planned to determine the relation between egg production and the fat consumption and output when a normal ration is fed. Throughout the paper the word “fat” is used for convenience instead of the term crude fat or ether extract, which was actually determined. Also the .

The Vitamin D of Alfalfa and Prairie Hay and its Utilization by Dairy Cows

Summary Representative samples from comparable lots of alfalfa hay and prairie hay were assayed for vitamin D. The alfalfa contained 1.10 International units, and the prairie hay 0.55 International units of vitamin D per gram. When these lots of hay were fed to comparable groups of dairy cows the butterfat produced by the group receiving alfalfa hay was more potent in vitamin D than the butterfat from the group receiving prairie hay, which was in turn more potent than butterfat from a beet pulp control group. Between 1 and 2 per cent of the vitamin D in these normal rations was recovered in the milk. Attempts to quantitatively concentrate the vitamin D of butterfat to assist in the assay of relatively impotent samples were unsuccessful.

The Influence of Distillery Slop on the Production of Chicken Fat

EXPERIMENTS of Cruickshank (1934) have shown relationship between the fats contained in a ration and the fats deposited in the body of fowls. Other experiments by the same author (1937), using maize in a poultry-fattening ration for 12 days, showed no detrimental effect on the consistency of the body fat and further, when fattening was rapid and live weight gains were satisfactory, the type of fat deposited in the bird was harder than that produced on a normal ration containing mixed cereals and a protein supplement.Preliminary experiments by the authors indicated that growing chicks contain less subcutaneous and abdominal fat when thick distillery slop replaced corn in the ration.Thick distillery slop is the liquid containing approximately 8.5 percent solids, which remains after alcohol has been distilled from the fermented mash in the manufacture of whiskey or alcohol from grain. During fermentation most of the starch of the grains .

The Essentiality of Cobalt in Bovine Nutrition

Summary A malnutrition has been produced in calves that is prevented or cured by cobalt supplementation and is aggravated by the use of iron and copper supplement. Appetite failure and accompanying effects on growth are most prominent. The probable non-specificity of the symptoms is considered. Indications that the condition is a microcytic hypochromic anemia are presented. Differences between the condition and other conditions amenable to cobalt supplement are explained on the basis of other variables. The small amount of cobalt in normal rations, and the difficulty of measuring such amounts, are stressed. Biological response is given as the sole diagnostic method at the present time.

Effect of Certain Nutritional Deficiencies on Various Phosphorus-containing Fractions of the Chick Brain.

Summary and ConditionsThe various fractions of chick brain, namely, the alcohol extract fraction, the trichloracetic acid extract fraction, and the fraction remaining after both extractions, were analyzed for their phosphorus content. In comparing the values obtained from chicks on a normal ration with those obtained from chicks receiving rations low in one of the essential factors (vitamin A, vitamin B4, and encephalomalacia) the following results were obtained.The ester phosphorus of the trichloracetic acid fraction was markedly reduced in the deficiency diseases, while the inorganic phosphorus was increased but not to the same extent as the former was reduced. The alcohol extract phosphorus fraction was only slightly increased. The phosphorus of the brain residue after alcohol and trichloracetic acid extractions as well as the total phosphorus content of brain was unaffected. Further, the amount of alcohol-soluble material of the brains was similar in both deficient and control chicks. Certain nutritio...

The nutrition of the bacon pig: II. The influence of high-protein intake on protein and mineral metabolism

An investigation has been made, by the method of balance trials, of the utilization of food protein, at different levels of protein intake, by bacon pigs throughout the period of growth from weaning to slaughter. Information has also been secured relating to the retention of lime, phosphoric acid and chlorine. The main conclusions are as follows:(1) The young pigs after weaning were able to digest their food with as high an efficiency as was displayed in the later stages of growth. The extra protein in the high-protein rations had little or no effect on the extent to which the food was digested.(2) No evidence was secured at any stage of the trials suggesting the presence of protein in the urine of the pigs subsisting on the high-protein diet.(3) The gilts showed a consistently higher rate of nitrogen retention than their brother-hogs. This behaviour was manifested even when the protein supply in the gilt's ration was lower than that in the ration of the hog with which it was compared. This more efficient utilization of food protein by the gilts is held to explain the tendency of gilts to give somewhat leaner carcasses than hogs.(4) Nitrogen retention from the high-protein diet was no higher than from the normal-protein diet, a rinding suggesting that the amount of protein in the normal rations is sufficient to meet the demands for the quick growth required by modern standards of bacon production.

A note on the effect of different cereals in the fattening ration on the composition of the body fat of the fowl

Over a 12-day fattening period the use of maize in the poultry-fattening ration has no detrimental effect on the consistency of the body fat.When fattening is rapid and live-weight gains are satisfactory, the type of fat deposited in the bird is harder than that laid down on a normal ration containing mixed cereals and a protein supplement.

A Lymphoblastoma Occurring in Young Chicks Reared on a Diet Treated with Ferric Chloride to Destroy Vitamin E

During the course of feeding experiments with newly hatched chicks the writer has observed a condition arising with great regularity and in a large proportion of the chicks which is strikingly similar to so-called leukemia in the fowl. Because of this similarity to a disease which is so closely related to neoplasms in general, a thorough study of the experimental condition has been undertaken in the hope of learning more regarding its cause and possible methods of prevention or cure. The histological study here presented is only a part of the investigation carried out in collaboration with Dr. H. J. Sloan and Dr. L. E. Card of the Poultry Division of the University of Illinois. Their cooperation and assistance have been most generous, and the writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to them, as well as to Dr. E. H. Barger of the Animal Pathology Laboratory of the University. Methods and Materials The purpose of the original experiments was to investigate the results of prolonged vitamin E deficiency in relation to excessive tissue growths as suggested by conditions encountered in earlier work with chick embryos (Adam-stone, 1931, 1934). The procedure followed was to set out a group of newly hatched chicks in a wire-floored pen and begin feeding immediately with a normal ration 1 treated with ferric chloride. The food was soaked in a 1 per cent solution of ferric chloride in ether for about twelve hours, after which the ether was removed by evaporation. This method destroys or inactivates the vitamin E in the food but is supposed to leave the vitamin A unaffected (Waddell and Steenbock, 1928, 1931). As a precaution, however, in view of the susceptibility of vitamin A to oxidation in the presence of ferrous salts (Mattill, 1927), 2 per cent of cod-liver oil or sardilene oil was added to the food after treatment. Since completion of the first work, the experiment has been repeated with the same general results on five separate occasions.

The nutritive value of artificially dried grass and its effect on the quality of milk produced by cows of the main dairy breeds

An experiment was carried out with two groups of ten cows each, made up of two Guernseys, two Ayrshires, two Friesians and four Shorthorns.The experiment was of the change-over type, the experimental period of 20 weeks being subdivided into four periods of 5 weeks, each cow alternating between the two treatments.In two of the periods a normal winter ration of roots, hay and concentrates was fed. In the other two periods artificially dried grass replaced a proportion of the concentrates, an average of 8 lb. being fed per head daily. The two types of ration provided equal amounts of starch equivalent and protein equivalent, but the carotene intake was greater in the “dried grass ration”.A statistical analysis of the difference in milk yields due to the contrast “Dried grass” v. “Control” revealed no signs of any effect, and if any actual effect does exist, it is quite negligible for the 5-week periods of this experiment.

The Iodine Content of Milk as Affected by Feeding Iodized Dry Milk

Summary A critical inspection of the data presented herein shows substantial and consistent agreement in the trend of iodine recovery in the milk as affected by seasonal or environmental conditions. The data have been collected at stated intervals over a period of three years in four different states. The records as shown in the tables and graphs represent numerous iodine determinations on the composited milk from thousands of cows, as well as numerous iodine determinations on composite feed samples and individual constituents of the ration. The percentage of iodine recovered in the milk at comparable periods is essentially of the same magnitude, irrespective of whether the iodine ingested is in such a form as that naturally occurring in ration constituents produced on high iodine soils, as in South Carolina, that naturally occurring in normal ration constituents grown in other areas, or that supplied in the form of iodized dry milk. The output of iodine in the milk per cow per day does not parallel the iodine ingested, irrespective of the intake level or form in which it is ingested, insofar as the data presented herein indicate. Nevertheless, the iodine concentration, as well as the total iodine output of the milk, is distinctly influenced and increased when an organic iodide supplement such as iodized dry milk is fed. It appears that the lack of a parallel relationship between the total iodine output and the percentage recovery in the milk on the one hand, and iodine ingested on the other, may be due primarily to environmental conditions prevailing during the relatively warm and cold seasons of the year. A distinctly lower total output and lower percentage recovery was found in all territories covered by these studies during the warm months.

THE RESERVE INCRETORY CAPACITY OF THE PANCREAS

In a recent work we have set forth the fundamental features of a new method devised for the investigation of the “reserve functional capacity of the pancreas.” We have shown for the first time that the subcutaneous or intravenous injection of duodenal secretin causes a fall in the blood sugar. This occurs in either normal men or experimental animals and the hypoglycemia thus produced results from an activation of the secretion of the islands of Langerhans. The reserve capacity of the normal pancreas can be represented quantitatively as the equivalent of 450 units of insulin. The amount of insulin required for the utilization of a normal carbohydrate ration of 500 grams is approximately 250 units, assuming, that, in round numbers, each two grams of sugar requires one unit. According to the experimental results of Woodyatt. Sansum and Wilder, the glucose tolerance of the healthy individual is 0.80 to 0.90 (approximately 0.85 grams per kgm. per hour). Accordingly, the quantity of glucose theoretically utiliz...

THE RGLE OF CELLULOSE IN NUTRITION

THE RGLE OF CELLULOSE IN NUTRITION

Calcium and Phosphorus Balances of Milking Cows Under Varying Conditions

The calcium and phosphorus balance trials with milking cows, upon which this paper is based, were started by the writer and his associates at the Vermont Experiment Station in 1924 and have been continued intermittently ever since. Nearly one hundred of these trials have been completed and others are now being conducted. Lack of time prevents any review of the work of other investigators. But at that time (1924) statements were made that not only heavily milking cows but also most cows giving in excess of 10 pounds of milk per day, were usually in negative balance as regards these minerals; and further that these losses, particularly of calcium, could not be prevented by feeding mineral supplements. Also it was claimed that usually 80 percent or more of the calcuim contained in the feed was excreted in the feces. The senior author was chairman of the College Feed Conference Board, which first approved the addition of mineral supplements to ready mixed dairy rations in the East. He planned these trials to determine whether or not cows fed on normal rations typical of North Eastern farm conditions, were usually in negative calcium and phosphorus balance and whether or not they would make use of these added minerals. Most of the cows used were producing from l1/^ to 2 pounds of butterfat per day while on trial. Only a bare summary of results without details can be given here. Detailed reports are being prepared for publication by the Vermont Experiment Station.

The Effect of Certain Vitamin-Carrying Additions to a Normal Ration for Baby Chicks

Although some of the earliest work on vitamins was done with birds,1 the greater part of our information on the subject has been obtained with laboratory mammals. The extension to other species of the knowledge of vitamin requirements has been rather slow because of the difficulty in feeding highly purified rations to other species of laboratory animals than rats. It is generally accepted that vitamins A and B are necessary for the nutrition of all species, but the universal need for vitamin C and for the anti-rachitic vitamin (vitamin D) is not yet demonstrated. Since the ultimate source of all vitamins is the leaf of the plant, it is of doubtful value to draw too definite conclusions from experiments involving the addition of leaves of plants which carry all known vitamins, perhaps some yet unknown, proteins, etc. The impossibility of obtaining vitamin preparations free from other substances of importance in .

Wet and dry feeding of concentrates to dairy cows

The feeding of concentrates after scalding with, boiling water and given to cows in winter in a sloppy condition at body temperature, increased the yield of milk by about 1 Ib. per head per day over the yield produced when the concentrates were fed in a dry state. The increase diminished with the advance in lactation.The warm mashes produced a distinct laxative effect.The animals took to the wet mashes better than to the dry meals.When the concentrates were fed as dry meals in a ration containing 30 Ibs. roots with fodder and the drinking water taken from a trough in the yard, the coat of the animals got out of condition. With a change to the wet meal or when the drinking water was accessible in the byre, the coat regained its condition again.An improved water supply did not appear to affect the milk yield.The percentage of milk fat increased as the milk yield decreased.Dairy equipment includes a boiler, therefore little, if any, additional capital outlay should be necessary for scalding the meals.On an average 3·5 Ibs. of water were assimilated to 1 lb. of milk produced in a normal winter ration (see p. 89). The ratio varied with the feeding, the temperature and the period of lactation.Drinking water and water consumed in the food amounted to about ten gallons daily, and of this between 50 and 60 per cent, was drinking water. The amount increased with an increase in the yield of milk and with a rise in the temperature. The smaller cows also consumed a relatively larger proportion of drinking water. From 25 to 30 per cent, of the total intake of water was contained in the mille.The feeding of a large weight of roots (112 Ibs.) with meals and fodder caused the animals to scour badly. The health and the condition of the animal were also adversely affected. The milk yield which had shown a tendency to increase was converted into a definite decrease. There was an increase in the percentage of fat, although the total weight produced diminished. The fall in the milk yield was partly though not immediately arrested by a change to a moderate root ration and there was a decided increase in the percentage of, and in the total yield of, fat. Heavy root feeding would therefore appear to depress fat formation, though the supply of nutritive material in the food as judged by the usual method of calculation was not diminished.The total weight of water consumed for 1 lb. of dry matter in the food amounted to 3·9 lbs. with the heavy and 3·3 lbs. with the moderate root ration. Some of the cows took water daily amounting on an average to between 5 and 6 per cent, of the total intake of water while on the heavy root ration.Preliminary data relating to temperature and milk secretion were given.Ayrshire cows were employed in the experiments.The late Lieutenant H. A. Wyllie, B.Sc. was in charge of the 1913–14 experiment and Mr Hugh M. Young of the 1914–15 experiment. Determinations of the percentage of total solids in the milk were made by Mr Peter Caldwell.Any additional expenditure incurred in carrying out these experiments was defrayed by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland.