Vitamin-mineral Mixture Research Articles

Nutritive value of ammoniated wheat straw fed to cattle.

The effects of ammoniation of wheat straw on site and extent of digestion of nutrients by cattle and the nutritive value of the N added to the straw were studied using eight Hereford steers during three consecutive 21-d periods and analyzed in an incomplete block design with steers and periods as orthogonal blocking factors. The steers, approximately 30 mo old and weighing 360 +/- 24 kg, were cannulated in the rumen, duodenum and ileum. Diets consisted of untreated (US) or ammoniated (AS) wheat straw supplemented with a mineral-vitamin mixture. Steers fed US received four supplements in which the percentages of supplemental N from soybean meal (SBM) and urea were 0:100; 33:67; 67:33 or 100:0. Percentage of N and in vitro DM digestibility values were increased in US by the ammoniation process from .42 to 1.82 and 34.8 to 54.3, respectively. Total tract digestibility of OM consumed was similar among treatments, although total tract digestibility of dietary N was decreased by ammoniation. Ammoniation doubled (P less than .05) the synthesis of microbial N per unit of dietary OM truly fermented in the rumen. When SBM and urea were fed in combination they depressed (P less than .10) microbial N flow and synthesis of microbial N per unit of OM truly fermented more than each depressed flow and synthesis individually. The nutritive value of the increased N of AS was equivalent to between 67 and 100% of SBM N based on amounts (g/d) of non-ammonia N apparently digested in the small intestine.

Urea utilization in growing lambs. 6. N balance with 15N urea

Lambs of an age of 2 or 4 months and of an average live weight of 14.7 and 27.4 kg resp. received rations consisting of 44% cereals, 46% dried sugar beet pulp, 6% wheat starch, 2% urea and 2% mineral-vitamin mixture. The crude protein content was 17.1 and 15.9% resp. in the dry matter, that of native crude protein 10.6 and 9.4% resp. During a 6-day N balance period 8 and 16 g 15N urea resp. with a 15N excess (15N') of 9.26 and 9.40 atom-% were fed orally instead of commercial feeding urea. There were no significant differences between the two age groups with regard to the digestibility of the organic matter and the crude nutrients. The average N balance of 372 +/- 85 mg/kg LW 0.75/day were in the intermediate range of N retention capacity and accounted for 26 +/- 5% of the consumed N. N retention in per cent. was slightly lower in younger lambs. Projections of urea utilization in a quasi stationary state resulted in an efficiency of the utilization of 33 +/- 4%. The dismembering of the lambs at the end of the main period showed between 0.02 and 0.22 atom-% 15N' in the total N, TCA precipitable N and amino acid N of the meat. At between 0.24 and 0.38 atom-% 15N' they were highest in the heart and jaw muscles. The quota of 15N' amounts found in the total N of the meat were 10.6 +/- 3% of the 15N-intake and 20.1 +/- 5.1% of the 15N' amount remaining in the body. The bones contained 7.7 +/- 1.7% and the fleece 7.9 +/- 3.1% of the 15N'-intake. Generally seen, the total N and urea utilization was slightly lower in younger lambs than in older ones.

SELECTED PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS RESULTING FROM ADDITION OF SODIUM BICARBONATE TO DIETS FOR YEARLING HORSES

Sodium bicarbonate or a commercial vitamin-mineral mixture was included at the 1% level (air-dry weight) in the diets of 16 yearling horses over a 140-day period in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Feed additives resulted in a pH range from 5.78 to 7.87 in the concentrate portion of the diets. Feces, urine and venous blood were collected 24 h after feeding the concentrate. Average daily gain, respiration rate, venous pCO2 and pO2, as well as serum K, Cl, Ca, P, urea N and protein levels were unaffected by treatment. Horses receiving the vitamin-mineral supplement had higher serum Na and lower serum glucose concentrations than horses not receiving the supplement. Horses receiving sodium bicarbonate had a higher urine pH, lower fecal pH, higher packed cell volume, lower blood pH and lower serum glucose concentrations at 24 h after a meal than horses not receiving the buffer. Key words: Horse, sodium bicarbonate, dietary supplements, hematology

Feeding of high producing dairy cows according to rumen undegradable protein requirements in grass silage based diet

The experiment was performed with 21 Ayshire cows 4—16 weeks post calving. Cows received restricted amounts (according to calculated intake) of unwilted grass silage, preserved with a mixture of acetic acid and formalin and two kilograms of hay/cow/day. A concentrate mixture including dried and propionic acid treated barley and oats together with a mineral-vitamin mixture was given 0.3 kg/kg FCM. During the standardization period (2 weeks) protein feeding of the cows was performed according to the DCP requirements and the diet was supplemented with soybean meal if necessary. For the adaptation period (3 weeks) and the comparison period (8 weeks) the cows were divided in 3 equal groups of 7 cows (G1, G2, G3). G 1 had no protein supplement in the diet. The diets of G 2 and G 3 were supplemented correspondingly either with rapeseed meal or formaldehyde treated urea on the basis of the UDP (undegradable feed protein) requirements (G2) and the DCP requirements (G3) of the cows. Efficient protein degradabilities in the total diets during the comparison period varied from 77 to 85 % when the determinations were made with the nylon bag technique. The highest degradabilities were found for the diet of G3 and the lowest for G 2. Significantly (P < 0.05, 0.01) the highest yields of FCM and milk protein were recorded for Group2 (G2) in which the cows received protein supplement according to their UDP requirements. Using a factorial approach, conversion of protein absorbable in the small intestine to milk protein was calculated to be 66.5 ± 0.8 % when all the cows in three groups were taken into account.

Nutritive value for ruminants of sugar cane bagasse ensiled after spray treatment with different levels of NaOH

Sugar cane bagasse previously dried to a water content below 25% was sprayed with equal quantities of sodium hydroxide solutions to supply 0, 20, 40 or 60 g alkali/kg of dried product and ensiled for 90 days. The cell wall content (NDF) decreased with increasing NaOH ( P < 0.001), whereas the lignocellulose fraction (ADF) remained unaffected. The effect on lignin (ADL) was small. All this suggests a solubilization of the hemicellulose fraction with alkali application. Ensiling reduced the pH in the bagasse owing to partial neutralization of residual NaOH. From a microbiological point of view, the stability of the NaOH-treated product, whether during the period of silage or when exposed to air, was good. The presence of NaOH in the silo inhibited the development of bacteria and fungi, an effect which was probably enhanced by the reduced soluble carbohydrate content of the substrate. Sixteen digestibility experiments following a 4 × 2 × 2 factorial design were carried out on whethers of 55.0 kg given, ad libitum, isocaloric diets containing the NaOH-sprayed bagasse supplemented with molasses, a mineral—vitamin mixture and urea—biuret or soya bean meal, to provide a total N content of 1.65 and 2.10%, irrespective of the N source. Average daily intakes were 29.8, 35.7, 44.7 and 40.6 g/kg W 0.75 for diets containing bagasse sprayed with 0, 20, 40 and 60 g alkali/kg of dried product, respectively. The effects of NaOH level, N source and N level were highly significant ( P < 0.001). The apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and cell wall components, and the N retention increased linearly ( P < 0.001) as the level of chemical treatment increased. Except for hemicellulose, the digestibility of the cell wall components was improved when soya bean meal was included in the experimental diets. The effect of N content was not significant. The calculated average organic matter digestibility (OMD) for the sugar cane bagasse ranged from 32.6 for the water-treated product to 56.8% with the highest level of alkali, the effect of the chemical treatment being significant ( P < 0.001).

Isobutylidendiharnstoff als NPN-Quelle für Wiederkäuer

In 3 experiments 2 lactating dairy cows received a mixed ration consisting of 10 kg maize silage, 2.5 kg hay, 2.0 kg barley, 1 kg dried sugar-beet pulp, 1.5 kg maize starch, 0.5 kg sugar, 0.2 kg of a mineral-vitamin mixture and 0.08 kg non-protein nitrogen (NPN) per animal and day. The ration contained 8.3 kg dry matter, 5.1 kEFU cattle and 1.18 kg crude protein, 0.5 kg of which from NPN, and was given in equal shares twice a day. Urea (I) or isobutylidene diurea (IBDU), to which the animals were not adapted (II) resp. adapted (III), were the sources of NPN.IBDU proved to a be a very slow source of NH3 in the rumen. 2 hours after the intake of NPN 48 . . . 75, 5 . . . 9 and 5 . . . 12 mg NH3/100 ml could be detected from I to III. Up to the third hour the concentration of IBDU and urea increased in III, which is due to the slow distribution of the slowly soluble IBDU in the fluid digestaphasis. 12 hours after the feeding the level of IBDU and urea in III still amounted to 25 mg urea/100 ml, in I to 1 mg/100 ml only. In the first 3 hours after supplying the NPN the pH-value of I was more than 1 unit higher than that of II and III. There were no significant differences in the fermentation models between the variants, the concentration of volatile fatty acids was 12.6, 12.3 and 11.1 mmol/100 ml. In the stomachs the digestibility of the organic matter was 52, 51 and 54%, that of the crude cellulose 64, 62 and 66% and that of the starch 91, 93 and 98%. At the duodenum the passage rate of N was 87 . . . 93, 107 . . . 126 and 96 . . . 130% of the N-intake, that of NH3-N 6, 43 and 22 g per day and that of bacteria-N 61 . . . 76, 78 . . . 100 and 76 . . . 96% of the N-intake. 2.3 . . . 2.8, 2.6 . . . 3.2 and 2.1 . . . 3.1 g bacteria-N were formed per 100 g dry matter fermented in the rumen. In the intestines 55 . . . 61, 57 . . . 64 and 48 . . . 71% of the feed-N were available as non-NH3-N. The conclusion is that in comparison to urea and concerning IBDU, the rumeno-hepatic circulation plays a definitely bigger role for the N-supply of the rumen microbes and that the possibility of the better N-utilisation can be derived from that.

Milk Consumption and Weight Gain of White-Tailed Deer

Milk Consumption and Weight Gain of White-Tailed Deer

Availability of iron in an enrichment mixture added to bread1

Development and testing of a simple-to-use vitamin-mineral mixture to enrich Iranian bread, the staple food in this developing country, are described.

Effect of supplementation of micronutrients of the performance of dairy cows

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of micronutrients supplementation on body weight of cows, birth weight of calf, colostrums composition, milk yield and milk composition. Six animals were divided in to two groups viz. control and supplemented group. Control group was provided conventional diet and supplemented group was supplied conventional diet plus vitamin-mineral mixture (1g vitamix powder/1kg concentrate feed) respectively for two months before calving. In supplemented group the average daily gain of the cows was (49.17 g/d) higher (P&lt;0.01) and the calves were 2 kg heavier in supplemented group compared to control group. Fat content and protein content of colostrum in supplemented group were also significantly higher (P&lt;0.01 and 0.05). The milk yield, fat and protein values of milk were increased non-significantly by 1.03 kg/d/h, 2.8 g/kg and 0.3 g/kg respectively. Ca content of milk was more or less similar in both cases. Key words: Milk; Milk protein; Milk fat; Micronutrients; Supplementation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v39i1-2.9688 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2010, 39(1&amp;2): 151-155

Effect of a Complex Mineral-Vitamin Supplement on Milk Production

Summary Four experiments were conducted with high-producing Holstein cows to measure the influence of a complex mineral-vitamin supplement on milk production. In the different experiments, widely varying types and qualities of forages were fed. Different hay to grain ratios were tested and various ingredients were used in the grain mixtures. The mineral-vitamin mixture had no measurable influence on milk or fat production, body weight gain, general appearance, health, or on the efficiency of milk production.