Wheat Screenings Research Articles

High deoxynivalenol and ergot alkaloid levels in wheat grain: effects on growth performance, carcass traits, rumen fermentation, and blood parameters of feedlot cattle

This study was designed to assess the impacts of a mixture of deoxynivalenol (DON) and ergot alkaloids (EAs) on growth performance, rumen function, blood parameters, and carcass traits of feedlot cattle. Forty steers (450 ± 6.0 kg) were stratified by weight and randomly allocated to 1 of 4 treatments; control-low (CON-L), control-high (CON-H) which contained low or high wheat screenings that lacked mycotoxins at the same level as the mycotoxin-low (MYC-L; 5.0 mg/kg DON, 2.1 mg/kg EA), and mycotoxin-high (MYC-H: 10 mg/kg DON, 4.2 mg/kg EA) diets that included wheat screening with mycotoxins. Steers were housed in individual pens for a 112-day finishing trial. Intake was 24.8% lower (P < 0.001) for MYC steers compared to CON steers. As a result, average daily gains of MYC steers were 42.1% lower (P < 0.001) than CON steers. Gain to feed ratio was also lower (P < 0.001) for MYC steers compared to CON steers. Platelets, alanine aminotransferase, globulins, and blood urea nitrogen were lower (P ≤ 0.008), and lymphocytes, glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were elevated (P ≤ 0.002) in MYC steers compared to CON steers. Hot carcass weights and backfat thickness were reduced (P < 0.001) in MYC steers, resulting in leaner (P < 0.001) carcasses and higher (P < 0.007) meat yield compared to CON steers. Results suggest that a mixture of DON and EAs negatively impacted health, performance, and carcass traits of feedlot steers, with the majority of this response likely attributable to EAs. However, more research is needed to distinguish the relative contribution of each mycotoxin to the specific responses observed.

344 Incorporation of Hemp Hulls and Screenings as Alternative Feed Sources for Ruminants

Abstract Currently there are no legal markets for feeding hempseed hulls or screenings to ruminants in Canada. This represents a significant wastage of high-quality feed that could be utilized in ruminant production. Therefore, the objectives of this project were to 1) evaluate the in situ rumen digestibility of hemp hulls and screenings; 2) evaluate the effect of including hemp hulls and screenings on the growth performance of feedlot lambs, and 3) assess if there are cannabinoids within the carcasses of growing lambs, and the milk of lactating ewes. Three ruminally cannulated Angus × Hereford heifers were used to determine the in situ degradability of hemp hulls and screenings. Wheat screenings, hemp hulls, and hemp screenings were weighed into polyester bags and incubated in the rumen for 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 96, 120, and 240 h. The kinetics of in situ DM disappearance were estimated using a non-linear regression procedure of SAS. Wheat screenings had a similar soluble fraction to hemp hulls and screenings; however, hemp screenings had a greater (P &amp;lt; 0.01) soluble fraction than hemp hulls. The rapidly degradable fraction, total potentially degradable fraction, and ruminal degradability were greatest (P &amp;lt; 0.01) for wheat screenings, followed by hemp screenings, and then hemp hulls. Study 2 was conducted using twelve Canadian Arcott x Suffolk ram lambs randomly allocated to one of three treatments: control (Wheat screenings), hemp hulls, and hemp screenings. By-products were included at 20% dietary dry matter, and lambs were fed ab libitum until they reached 50 kg. To test for cannabinoid residues, samples of muscle, adipose tissue, liver, and kidney were taken post-mortem. Study 3 was conducted using fifteen lactating Canadian Arcott x Suffolk ewes with twins, fed the same treatments as in Objective 2. Hulls and screenings were included at 15% DM, and ewes were fed dietary treatments for 30 d, with dry matter intake and body weight recorded weekly. On d 15 and 30, ewes were hand milked to obtain samples for cannabinoid analysis. This research will have an important role in supporting Canadian approval for feeding industrial hemp by-products to ruminant livestock.

200 Effect of Long-term Feeding of Deoxynivalenol (DON) Contaminated Diets on Performance of Grower-finisher Pigs

Abstract Previous studies examining the effects of deoxynivalenol (DON) intake in pigs have largely focused on young animals or have been over a short period of time. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of long-term feeding of DON contaminated diets on growth performance of grower-finisher pigs. A total of 240 mixed-sex pigs (35.9 ± 1.1 kg) were group housed in 6 pigs/pen (n = 10/treatment) and were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments for 77 d. Diets consisted of a control diet (CON) containing no DON or a diet containing 1, 3, or 5 ppm DON (DON1, DON3, or DON5) achieved by adding DON-contaminated wheat and wheat screenings at the expense of clean wheat. In the grower period, DON5-fed pigs had reduced average daily gain (ADG) compared to CON, with DON1 and DON3-fed pigs being intermediate P &amp;lt; 0.05). There was no effect of dietary treatment on ADG in the finisher period (P &amp;gt; 0.05). Overall the entire study, DON3 and DON5-fed pigs had similar and reduced ADG (P &amp;lt; 0.05) compared to CON and DON1, which did not differ (P &amp;gt; 0.05). Feed intake was reduced in DON-fed pigs in the finisher period (3.12, 2.97, 2.96, and 2.88 ± 0.05; P&amp;lt; 0.05) and in DON3 and DON5-fed pigs overall (2.62, 2.55, 2.47, 2.47 ± 0.03; P &amp;lt; 0.05) compared to CON, with no overall effect observed in the grower period. There was no effect on feed efficiency in any period (P &amp;gt; 0.05). The decrease in performance resulted in reduced final body weight in DON3 and DON5-fed pigs, compared to CON, with DON1-fed pigs being intermediate (P &amp;gt; 0.05). Overall, the effects of DON-intake on performance were variable and generally occurred rapidly after initial exposure and appear to be largely due to the reduction in feed intake.

Effect of long-term feeding of graded levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) on growth performance, nutrient utilization, and organ health in finishing pigs and DON content in biological samples.

The prevalence of deoxynivalenol (DON) is a concern for swine producers, and although there has been extensive research into the effects of DON in pigs, focus has been in young pigs and/or in short-term studies. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of long-term exposure to DON-contaminated diets in finisher pigs. A total of 200 pigs (76.6 ± 3.9 kg initial weight) were group housed (five pigs per pen; n = 10 pens/treatment) in a 6-wk trial. Pigs were fed a wheat-barley-soybean meal-based control (CONT) diet with no DON or the basal diet in which clean wheat was replaced by DON-contaminated wheat and wheat screenings to provide DON content of 1, 3, or 5 ppm (DON1, DON3, and DON5, respectively). Individual BW and pen feed intake were recorded weekly to calculate average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F). Blood was collected on days 0, 14, and 43 and analyzed for indicators of liver and kidney health. Nitrogen (N)-balance was conducted immediately following the growth performance period to determine the effect of DON on nutrient utilization. Blood and urine samples collected during N balance were analyzed for DON content. Feeding DON reduced (P < 0.05) ADFI and ADG from days 0 to 28 compared with CONT, after which there was no effect of diet on ADFI and ADG. The G:F was lower (P < 0.05) in DON5 fed pigs compared with all treatments during days 0 to 7; however, no treatment effects on G:F was observed from days 8 to 42. Nitrogen retention was lower (P < 0.05) in DON3 and DON5 compared with DON1-fed pigs. Nitrogen retention efficiency was higher (P < 0.05) in DON1 compared with DON3 and DON5 and protein deposition for DON1 pigs was higher (P < 0.05) than all treatments. There were no treatment effects on indicators of liver and kidney health. As dietary DON intake increased, concentration of DON in blood and urine increased. Overall, although there was an initial decrease in ADG and ADFI in pigs receiving diets containing >1 ppm DON, pig performance recovered after a period of time, whereas nutrient utilization continued to be affected after recovery of performance. Moreover, the lack of DON on G:F indicates that the negative effects of DON on growth performance are largely due to reduced feed intake. Overall, although pigs maybe capable of adapting to intake of DON-contaminated diets, their final body weight will be reduced when fed diets containing >1 ppm DON.

PSI-2 Evaluation of feed by-products on in vitro DMD, methane production and ruminal fermentation parameters

Abstract In-vitro batch culture assessment was used to examine DMD, ruminal fermentation parameters and CH4 production associated with a range of by-products feeds including pea hulls, pea screenings, soybean, soybean meal, wheat bran, wheat screenings, wheat DDGS, wheat corn DDGS, corn DDGS, coarse hemp powder, hemp hulls, flax screenings, nexera canola, commodity canola, sunflower screenings, quinoa and dogwood in a randomized complete block design. By-products were obtained from various locations across Manitoba at 3 monthly timepoints to account for sample variability. By-products (0.5g DM) were weighed individually into jars and incubated at 39°C in jars containing buffered medium and rumen fluid for 48 hrs. Gas samples were collected at 3,6,9,12,18,24,36 and 48 hr and CH4, DM disappearance, pH, VFA and ammonia concentrations were measured. Data were analysed using the MIXED procedure of SAS including treatment as a fixed effect and run, block, month and location as random effects. Methane output was regressed on CP and NDF to determine the effect of these constituents. Treatment had a significant effect (P &amp;lt; 0.0001) on CH4 (ml/g DMD) produced, with dogwood having the lowest cumulative CH4 (11.13 ml/g DMD) compared to all other treatments. Methane (ml/g DMD) decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.0005) as pH decreased. An inverse relationship between protein and CH4 was apparent, which explained 31% (R2= 0.31) of the CH4 (ml/g DMD) produced. Further, NDF (%) had a significant effect (P &amp;lt; 0.0001) on CH4 and explained 25% (R2=0.25) of the CH4 (ml/g DMD) produced. Overall, by-products higher in crude protein and lower in NDF produced lower (P &amp;lt; 0.001) CH4 ml/g DMD. Although the addition of dogwood to cattle diets is novel, it does show potential CH4 mitigation potential using in vitro assessment.

73 Within and between animal variation in supplement intake with the use of a novel precision feeding system for beef cattle

Abstract Survey data suggests that in Western Canada, approximately 62% of forage samples may not meet energy requirements for gestating beef cows in 2nd trimester of pregnancy. Individual supplementation via a precision feeder would improve animal productivity and welfare. A CV of 30% was selected as a threshold for acceptable variation based on previous studies, which reported a CV of 41% for supplements hand-fed to grazing animals. Over three, 14-d experimental periods, precision feeders were used to deliver and monitor consumption of the following supplements to 24 steers (375 kg; n = 8 per pen): 1) supplementation of low protein forage (5.5% CP) with commercial pellets (1 kg hd-1d-1 with and without flavoring); 2) supplementation of low protein forage (5.5% CP) with processed pea screening powder (PPSP), sunflower screenings, and flax screenings provided at 0.57, 1.04, and 1.34 kg hd-1d-1, respectively; and 3) supplementation of low energy forage (41.4% TDN) with wheat screenings, wheat bran, and quinoa dockage all provided at 2.61 kg hd-1d-1. Feeding commercial pellets without flavoring resulted in within animal CVs (15.12% and 13.15%) and between animal CVs (14.78% and 12.68%) similar to pellets with flavoring (13.98% within and 12.85% between animal CV). Steers offered PPSP had significantly higher within and between animal CV (31.05% and 31.41%, respectively) than was observed for animals offered sunflower screenings (14.98% within and 18.30% between animal) and flax screenings (11.19% within and 16.03% between animal). Within and between animal CV was 6.99% and 7.14% for wheat screenings, 10.47% and 11.77% for wheat bran, and 10.07% and 10.42% for quinoa dockage. Intake CV for all supplements was below 30% except for PPSP which may have resulted from the powdery texture or low amount offered relative to other feedstuffs, indicating that the precision feeders are an effective system to deliver supplements on an individual animal basis.

Effects of wet feeding and enzyme supplementation on nutritional value of wheat screenings for broiler chickens

The effects of wet feeding and a multi-enzyme preparation on the nutritional value of wheat screenings (WS) for broiler chicks were investigated. In total, 540 1-day-old Ross-308 broiler chicks were fed a corn–soybean meal-based diet up to 29 days of age. At that time, the birds were randomly assigned to nine diets in a completely randomised design with a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, including three levels of WS (0%, 25% and 50%, WS0, WS25 and WS50 respectively) and three processing methods (no processing, enzyme supplementation and wet feeding). The enzyme mixture contained endo-1, 4-β-xylanase (200 FXU/g), endo-1, 4-β-glucanase (50 FBG/g), endo-1, 8-β-glucanase (21 FBG/g), hemicellulase (3000 VHCU/g), α-galactosidase (3 GALU/g) and protease (260 U/g) and was supplemented at a level of 6 g/kg of diet. The inclusion of water in wet diets was in the extent of 1.2 kg/kg of diet. During the period from 29 to 49 days of age, feed intake was not affected (P &gt; 0.05) by the inclusion of WS in the diet, whereas chicks fed the WS25 diet had a higher (P &lt; 0.05) bodyweight gain than did those on WS0 diet. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was improved (P &lt; 0.05) by the inclusion of WS in the diet throughout the study. The feed intake was increased (P &lt; 0.05) by enzyme supplementation to WS50 diet, while bodyweight gain was increased (P &lt; 0.05) by wet feeding. Enzyme supplementation did not affect (P &gt; 0.05) FCR, whereas wet feeding resulted in lower (P &lt; 0.05) FCR over the entire study. The plasma concentration of glucose was increased (P &lt; 0.05) by the inclusion of WS in the diet. The viscosity of the ileal digesta was higher (P &lt; 0.05) in chicks receiving the WS50 diet than that in chicks receiving the other diets. The jejunal villus height was increased (P &lt; 0.05) and the jejunal crypt depth was decreased (P &lt; 0.05) by the inclusion of WS in diet. The jejunal crypt depth was greater (P &lt; 0.05) in chicks receiving the wet diets than in chicks receiving the enzyme-supplemented diets (P &gt; 0.05). In conclusion, the results from the present study indicated that broiler growth performance was improved by the inclusion of WS in the diet and also by wet feeding. These effects were largely compatible with the changes that occurred in the small intestine morphology, but not with those observed for ileal digesta viscosity.

Mycotoxicoses of ruminants and horses

In the current study, mycotoxicoses of ruminants and horses are reviewed, with an emphasis on the occurrence of these diseases in South America. The main mycotoxicoses observed in grazing cattle include intoxications by indole-diterpenoid mycotoxins (Paspalum spp. contaminated by Claviceps paspali, Lolium perenne infected by Neotyphodium lolii, Cynodon dactylon infected by Claviceps cynodontis, and Poa huecu), gangrenous ergotism and dysthermic syndrome (hyperthermia) caused by Festuca arundinacea (syn. Festuca elatior) infected by Neotyphodium coenophialum (syn. Acremonium coenophialum), and photosensitization in pastures contaminated by toxigenic Pithomyces chartarum. Other mycotoxicoses in grazing cattle include slaframine toxicity in clover pastures infected by Rhizoctonia leguminicola and diplodiosis in cattle grazing in corn stubbles. The mycotoxicoses caused by contaminated concentrated food or byproducts in cattle include poisoning by toxins of Aspergillus clavatus, which contaminate barley or sugar beetroot by-products, gangrenous ergotism or dysthermic syndrome caused by wheat bran or wheat screenings contaminated with Claviceps purpurea, and acute respiratory distress caused by damaged sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas). The main mycotoxicosis of horses is leukoencephalomalacia caused by the fumonisins B1 and B2 produced by Fusarium spp. Poisoning by C. purpurea and F. elatior infected by N. coenophialum has also been reported as a cause of agalactia and neonatal mortality in mares. Slaframine toxicosis caused by the ingestion of alfalfa hay contaminated by R. leguminicola has also been reported in horses.

Effect of Chemical Composition and Dietary Enzyme Supplementation on Metabolisable Energy of Wheat Screenings

Three trials were conducted to determine the available energy of different wheat screening varieties collected from different locations of Khorasan in Iran. In experiment 1, chemical composition and the nitrogen corrected true metabolisable energy (TMEn) were evaluated. A precision-fed rooster assay was used, in which, each wheat screening sample was tube fed to adult roosters, and the excreta were collected for 48-h. In Exp. 2 and 3, five and two wheat screening verities-based diets with or without xylanase and phytase were fed to 16-day old battery reared chicks respectively, and total feed consumption and excreta were measured during next three days. The variable nature of wheat screening varieties led to significant differences in mean TMEn values (p of the mean value () and ranged from 2,734.90 to 3,245.12 kcal/kg. There was a significant correlation (p from using a single chemical analysis was obtained with NDF: TMEn = 4,152.09-27.80 NDF ( = 0.90, p = 0.98, p and in Exp. 2 and Exp. 3, respectively. Addition of xylanase and phytase to wheat screenings resulted in significant (p

Performance of growing-finishing pigs fed barley-based diets containing graded levels of number 1 wheat screenings

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of graded levels of number 1 wheat screenings on performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass traits when fed to growing-finishing pigs. Forty crossbred pigs (Camborough 15 Line female × Canabred sire) weighing an average of 19.7 ± 2.8 kg were assigned to one of five dietary treatments in a 5 × 2 factorial design experiment. The main effects tested included level of wheat screenings and sex of pig (barrows and gilts). The levels of inclusion were 0, 18, 36, 54 and 72% in the grower diet and 0, 20.5, 41, 61.5 and 82% in the finisher diet. Screenings were added largely at the expense of barley. A botanical analysis was preformed and it indicated that the screenings contained approximately 88.5% whole or cracked wheat with the most prevalent weed seeds being wild buckwheat (6.7%), canola seed (2.8%) and cleavers (0.96%). There was a linear (P = 0.001) increase in the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and gross energy with increased incorporation of wheat screenings in the diet. Over the entire experimental period (19.7–105.1 kg), there was no change in growth rate due to feeding wheat screenings, but feed intake declined in a linear (P = 0.044) fashion while feed conversion improved linearly (P = 0.014) as the inclusion level of screenings increased. There were no sex effects on pig performance. Dietary inclusion of wheat screenings had no significant effects on any carcass traits including dressing percent, carcass value index, lean yield, loin fat or loin lean. The carcass value index for gilts was higher than that of barrows (P = 0.038). The overall results of this experiment indicate that number 1 wheat screenings can be successfully uti lized as an energy source for use in growing-finishing diets and can be fed at levels as high as 72% for growing pigs and 82% for finishing pigs with no negative effects on pig performance or carcass quality. However, should the level of weed seeds increase or the type of weed seeds contaminating the screenings change appreciably from those reported here, then it may be necessary to reduce the incorporation level of screenings in the diet. Key words: Pigs, wheat screenings, performance, digestibility, carcass

Wheat by-products in poultry nutrition. Part I. Chemical and nutritive composition of wheat screenings, bakery by-products and wheat mill run

A study was conducted to investigate the variability in chemical and nutritive composition of wheat screenings, bakery by-products and wheat mill run used by the feed industry in Canada. On average, and in comparison to wheat (as-fed basis), the wheat screenings (16 samples) contained less starch (457 vs. 560 g kg-1; P &lt; 0.0001), less available energy (TMEn) (13.19 vs. 13.76 MJ kg-1; P &lt; 0.05), similar amounts of sugars (19 vs. 12 g kg-1; P &gt; 0.05), phytate phosphorus (2.4 vs. 3.0 g kg-1; P &gt; 0.05), and higher levels of protein (151 vs. 126 g kg-1; P &lt; 0.0001), fat (66 vs. 12 g kg-1; P &lt; 0.0001) and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) (100 vs. 91 g kg-1; P &lt; 0.01). A negative relationship (P &lt; 0.0001) between starch and fat contents of the wheat screenings samples was noted indicating that a decrease in starch content of 20 g kg-1 would result in an increase in fat content by approximately 9 g kg-1. This inverse relationship should result in the maintenance of a relatively high content of available energy in wheat screenings. The low level of glucosinolates in wheat screenings (min. 0.66, max. 4.24 µmol g-1) indicated that canola seed rather than wild and/or condiment mustard seed was a predominant oilseed in the samples and the main contributor to the high oil content. Bakery by-products (12 samples) contained 119 g kg-1 protein (as-fed basis) , 378 g kg-1 starch, 84 g kg-1 sugars, 81 g kg-1 fat, 87 g kg-1 NSP and 14.34 MJ kg-1 TMEn. Six samples of wheat mill run were evaluated, and on an as-fed basis were found to contain 165 g kg-1 protein, 264 g kg-1 starch, 36 g kg-1 sugars, 43 g kg-1 fat, 224 g kg-1 NSP and 5.2 g kg-1 phytate phosphorus. Although high levels of phytate phosphorus were found to be present in the mill run samples, the mill run was also found to contain the highest activity of endogenous phytase (2331 units kg-1) when compared to wheat (1358 units kg-1) or wheat screenings (1348 units kg-1). The total dietary fibre content of mill run was found to be 387 g kg-1 on average and was much higher than that determined for wheat screenings (195 g kg-1) and bakery by-products (134 g kg-1). Key words: Nutritive and botanical composition, antinutritional factors, fibre, phytate

Wheat by-products in poultry nutrition. Part II. Nutritive value of wheat screenings, bakery by-products and wheat mill run and their improved utilization by enzyme supplementation

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the nutritive value of wheat screenings, bakery by-products and wheat mill run used by the feed industry in Canada and to investigate the effect of enzyme supplementation on available energy content, nutrient digestibility and broiler chicken growth performance. Broiler chicken performance (2-wk growth trial) was compared using a wheat/soybean meal-based control diet and diets substituted with wheat by-products (wheat screenings, 200 g kg-1; bakery by-products or mill run, 100 g kg-1). In addition, diets containing one sample of each of the by-products were fed to broiler chickens with enzyme supplementation (Superzyme W®). Chicken performance was not affected by dietary substitution of wheat by-products for wheat as values for control, wheat screenings (three samples), bakery by-products (two samples) and mill run (one sample) were similar for body weight gain (514, 520, 515, 500 g bird-1) and for feed to gain ratio (1.52, 1.52, 1.52, 1.50), respectively. Response to enzyme supplementation was highest for wheat screenings showing a statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05) improvement in body weight gain (523 vs. 548 g bird-1) and feed to gain ratio (1.54 vs. 1.47). To further substantiate the importance of enzyme supplementation, a long-term production trial with broiler chickens was conducted. Five replicate pens of 60 birds per treatment were used in the starter (21 d) and grower (16 d) phases of the experiment consisting of three treatments: positive control (PC) (wheat/soybean meal/fish meal), negative control (NC) (wheat/wheat screenings/barley/soybean/ canola meal) and NC + Enzyme (Superzyme W®). In comparison to PC, the NC diet contained 5% less metabolizable energy, 8–10% less crude protein, amino acids and calcium and 25% less available phosphorus. Body weight gain and feed conversion ratio averaged 2.14, 2.10, 2.17 kg bird-1 and 1.68, 1.76, 1.66 for PC, NC and NC + Enzyme, respectively. A significant (P &lt; 0.05) improvement in broiler chicken performance with enzyme supplementation was further substantiated by the same magnitude of difference in dry matter (71.2, 68.7, 75.1%), starch (92.5, 90.3, 95.6%), non-starch poly saccharides (NSP) (4.8, 15.0, 36.1%), energy (AME) (12.37, 11.83, 12.84 MJ kg-1) and phytate (44.3, 37.5, 69.5%) digestibilities. It is evident from this study that the use of wheat by-products in concert with an effective enzyme supplement in broiler chicken diets will allow for optimum growth performance. Key words: Broilers, by-products, feeding value, enzymes

Use of the mobile nylon bag technique to determine the digestible energy content of traditional and non-traditional feeds for swine

The following experiment was conducted using the mobile nylon bag technique (MNBT) to determine dry matter and energy digestibility in traditional feeds as well as non-traditional feeds in order to calculate digestible energy (DE) values for use in ration formulation programmes. A total of 22 ingredients were tested in this experiment including the traditional cereal grains barley, corn, oats and wheat, as well as secondary cereal grains such as normal and low viscosity rye, low lignin and high fat oat groats, wheat heavies and # 1 wheat screenings and a new bread wheat designated as CDC Teal. Three legumes (lupines, peas and dehydrated alfalfa), three varieties of canary seed (CDC Maria, dehulled CDC Maria and Keet), and raw and micronized canola seed were tested as protein sources. Finally, three oilseed meals obtained from the Chinese feed industry (Chinese rapeseed meal, Chinese cottonseed meal and extruded full-fat soybean meal) were also included. After simulating gastric digestion the nylon bags were inserted into the duodenum of five barrows through simple duodenal T-cannulae. Eight bags were administered to each pig daily. Ten nylon bags were prepared for each feed with two bags being inserted into each of the five barrows. A total of 220 bags were inserted over a 7-day period. The overall results of this experiment indicate that the MNBT has great potential for use in determining the digestible energy content of swine feeds. For the most part, values obtained in the present experiment compared favourably with previously published values. Four feedstuffs produced digestible energy values that differed by greater than 5% from previously reported values. However, variation in chemical content provided a reasonable explanation for these discrepancies. The MNBT has several advantages compared with conventional digestibility methods in that many feeds can be tested in a relatively short duration of time with significantly fewer animals being used, only small amounts of feed are required and the test allows for energy measurements in feedstuffs that would not normally be fed to pigs as a single ingredient. Additional research on a wider variety of feedstuffs should be conducted to confirm the potential of the MNBT as a tool to accurately determine DE values for swine.

Neurological disorder in dairy cattle associated with consumption of beer residues contaminated with Aspergillus clavatus.

A neurological syndrome in dairy cattle associated with consumption of moldy beer residues is described. The disease occurred on 1 farm in late June 2001, during winter. Six heifers and 1 cow out of 45 cattle were affected during a 3-week period. The affected animals died spontaneously or were euthanized approximately 2-14 days after the onset of clinical signs. The clinical signs were characterized by flaccid paralysis and gait abnormalities. Clinical signs were more pronounced after exercise and included stiff and unsteady gait, knuckling at the fetlocks of the hind limbs, frequent falling, inability to rise, muscular tremors, especially of the head and the hindquarters, and drooling. Main necropsy findings included degenerative and necrotic changes of the larger medial muscle groups of the hindquarters, i.e., adductor, pectineus, quadriceps femoris, rectus femuris, sartorius, semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and vastus medialis, and of the forequarters, including pectoralis descendens, pectoralis ascendens, and transversus pectoralis. The main histologic findings consisted of degenerative and necrotic neuronal changes (chromatolysis) of varying severity and extent affecting selected nuclei of the brainstem and neurons of the ventral horns of the spinal cord. Similar microscopic lesions were observed in the neurons of the spinal cord of 1 experimental sheep force-fed for 35 days with 1 kg/day of the same batch of foodstuff that was originally fed to the cattle. Coarse white or gray lumps, interpreted as mycelia, were observed in the beer by-product. Aspergillus clavatus was the dominant fungus isolated. Deaths ceased after the consumption of beer residue was discontinued. Recovery from illness was observed in 1 animal. The diagnosis was based on epidemiological data, clinical signs, necropsy findings, histological lesions, dosing trial, and mycology. A similar condition caused by consumption of barley by-products, sprouted wheat, corn sprouts, and beetroot screenings contaminated with A. clavatus has been reported in cattle and sheep worldwide.

Nutritional value of wheat screenings for broiler chickens

Two trials were conducted to study the nutritional value of two wheat screening samples in broiler diets. Experiment 1 evaluated the chemical composition, and energy and amino acid digestibility while, exp. 2 evaluated the performance of 1980 female broiler chickens, housed in straw litter pens, and fed four different levels of the two wheat screening samples. In exp. 2, the wheat screening samples replaced 0%, 25%, 50% and 100% for sample 1 and 0, 25, and 50% for sample 2 of the wheat in diets fed to broilers. Each treatment was replicated six times with 55 birds per replication. The metabolizable energy, and protein content, and mean ileal amino acid digestibility were 3107 kcal kg-1, 15.77%, 83.3%, and 3023 kcal kg-1, 15.19%, 80.4% for wheat screening samples 1 and 2, respectively. The samples contained 90.5 and 88.2% wheat and the major weed seed in both samples was wild buckwheat, which was 4.5 and 6.3% in samples 1 and 2, respectively. In the broiler feeding trial, no significant differences were found between the wheat diet and those containing wheat screenings with regards to growth, feed efficiency, and mortality. There were variations in the composition of wheat screening samples; however, in this study, these variations did not significantly affect the performance of broiler chickens. Wheat screenings totally replaced wheat in balanced broiler diets without negatively affecting performance. Key words: Broiler chicken, feed, wheat screenings, wild buckwheat.

Xylanase, beta-glucanase, and other side enzymatic activities have greater effects on the viscosity of several feedstuffs than xylanase and beta-glucanase used alone or in combination.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of a pure xylanase, a pure beta-glucanase, a mix of the two pure enzymes, and a commercial enzyme preparation (Quatrazyme HP, Nutri-Tomen Les Ulis, France) on the viscosity exhibited by water-soluble nonstarch polysaccharides of several feedstuffs (Rialto wheat, Sidéral wheat, Isengrain wheat, triticale, rye, barley, oats, corn, wheat bran, rice bran, wheat screenings, soybean meal, rapeseed meal, sunflower meal, and peas). The viscosity depended on the feedstuffs and varieties of the same feedstuff. There was a correlation (R (2) = 0.86) between viscosity of cereals and their arabinoxylan and beta-glucan contents. The correlation was greater (R (2) = 0.99) when the type of cereal was taken into account. The addition of pure xylanase significantly decreased the viscosity of all feedstuffs except sunflower meal (P < or = 0.05). However, pure beta-glucanase was unable significantly to decrease the viscosity of Isengrain wheat, corn, rice bran, wheat screenings, soybean meal, and sunflower meal. There was a greater decrease in viscosity with the combination of xylanase and beta-glucanase than with addition of xylanase or beta-glucanase alone. This synergistic action of xylanase and beta-glucanase was observed only in Rialto wheat, Sidéral wheat, triticale, rye, barley, oats, and peas. Finally, the commercial enzyme preparation produced a greater reduction (P < or = 0.05) in viscosity for all feedstuffs compared to xylanase or beta-glucanase used alone or in combination. The greater effectiveness of the commercial enzyme preparation was due to the presence of side enzymatic activities (arabinofuranosidase, xylosidase, glucosidase, galactosidase, cellulase, and polygalacturonase).

Influence of Season and Diet on Feedlot Performance of Bison

Bison (Bison bison) feeders have little information available on feeds and feedlot management. The objectives of this study were to determine feedlot performance of bison bull calves fed during the four seasons of the year using four different diets. Weaned intact male calves (n = 78, avg. wt. 214 kg, avg. age 272 d) were randomly assigned to four different feedlot diets in a 4 diet × 4 period (season) Latin Square design. Periods were approximately 80 d long and closely associated with spring, summer, fall, and winter. Dietary treatments based on major or unique ingredients in the formulation were: 1) wheat screenings, 2) wheat middlings from durum wheat, 3) crambe meal, and 4) a commercial bison ration. Daily gains averaged 0.78kg during spring, 0.63kg during summer, 0.80kg during fall, and 0.17kg during the winter with a standard error of ± 0.11kg. Gains were lower (P<0.01) during the winter than the other three seasons. No differences (P>0.10) in dry matter intake per unit animal weight were detected due to season; however, hay intake increased (P<0.10) during the winter on a per head basis. Daily gains were not different (P=0.24) for dietary treatments when pooled across all seasons. Because significantly lower gains (P<0.01) were observed during the winter, dietary treatments were reanalyzed using only spring, summer, and fall data. Average daily gains were 0.78kg for screenings, 0.69kg for crambe meal, 0.74kg for wheat midds, and 0.73kg for the commercial feed with a standard error of ± 0.05. The screenings diet produced greater gains (P=0.07) than crambe meal with the other two treatments intermediate. Season has a major impact on gain and feed efficiency for feedlot bison. There appears to be some variation in animal performance based on ingredients in the diet.

Delayed neuropathy in pigs induced by isofenphos.

In 1990 an outbreak of ataxia occurred in over 700 pigs in the north of England. Epidemiological studies demonstrated that the disorder was associated with the consumption of feed from a particular supplier and that one component (wheat screenings) was common to the batch of feed with which the ataxia was associated. An analysis of the feed demonstrated the presence of an organophosphorus pesticide, later identified as isofenphos, a pesticide not approved for use in the United Kingdom. The wheat screenings had been imported from France and the warehouse in which they had been stored was contaminated with isofenphos, which is approved for restricted use in France. Isofenphos is known to cause delayed neuropathy. The dose to which the pigs were theoretically exposed would be expected to have resulted in neuropathy (manifested as ataxia).

Nutritive Value of Wheat Screening as a Feed Ingredient for Broiler Chickens

Data from two experiments, each involving a total of 1,920 (960 males and 960 females) broiler chickens were combined to evaluate the effects of feeding diets containing 0, 15, 30, or 45% ground wheat screenings (WS). Mortality was significantly higher for males than for females at both 21 days (P<.01) and 42 days of age (P<.05). Although there was no significant (P<.05) difference between feed conversion ratios for the two sexes, body weights were significantly higher for males than for females. Significant (P<.01) dietary effects were evident for feed conversion to 21 days of age but not to 42 days. Dietary effects on body weights were not significant (P<.05) although a significant linear pattern at 21 days indicated that heavier weights were associated with higher dietary WS levels. Evidence is provided that satisfactory performance can be attained with diets containing up to 45% WS.

THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF WHEAT SCREENINGS AS A FEED INGREDIENT FOR ADULT LEGHORN HENS

Nine hundred and twenty Leghorn hens were used in two experiments designed to evaluate the effects of feeding adult diets containing ground wheat screenings at 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60% of diets which were calculated to be isoenergic and isonitrogeneous. Results from both experiments reveal that there were no significant (P &gt; 0.05) dietary effects for mortality, egg production, egg specific gravity, egg Haugh units or body weights. The higher dietary levels of wheat screenings were associated with a significant (P &lt; 0.05) linear depression in feed efficiency. In exp. 2 hens fed the diet with 60% wheat screenings were significantly delayed in reaching a 50% rate of egg production and laid eggs which, at 182 d of age, weighed significantly less than eggs laid by hens fed diets with lower levels of wheat screenings; but as these results did not occur in exp. 1 these effects on sexual maturity and egg weight are inconclusive. It can be stated that layer diets may contain up to 45% wheat screenings without the expectation of a depression in biological performance. Key words: Wheat screenings, diets, Leghorn hens