Suchergebnisse

Twelve lactating sows were used to evaluate the effects of reducing dietary crude protein (CP) (14% vs. 12%) and increasing neutral detergent fibre (NDF) levels (18% vs. 22%) on litter performance, total tract apparent digestibility and manure composition in a 4 9 4 latin square arrangement during a 36-day lactation period. Diets were isoenergetic (2.9 Mcal ME/kg) and had similar total lysine content (0.9%). In addition, a second aim was to compare a reference external marker method (Cr2O3) with an internal feed marker [acid-insoluble ash (AIA)] for the calculation of apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients in lactating sows. The reduction of dietary CP level in lactating sows had no effect on either live-weight or backfat thickness or apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients. However, the piglets' average daily gain (ADG) was reduced in low dietary CP diets, which suggests that sows reduced milk production due to an underestimation of certain essential amino acid requirements (e.g. valine). The increase of dietary NDF level did not affect sow and litter performance. Nevertheless, the total tract apparent digestibility of organic matter, CP and carbohydrates was reduced, and ether extract digestion was increased in high NDF compared to normal NDF diets equally balanced for ME and lysine content. The coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility of nutrients in lactating sows were greater when using AIA compared to Cr2O3 marker, regardless of dietary CP or NDF level, but their coefficients of variation were lower in the former than in the latter. In lactating sows, a trade-off between litter performance and nutrient digestion is established when reducing dietary CP or increasing NDF levels while maintaining similar lysine content through synthetic amino acids and balancing metabolizable energy through dietary fat sources. ; This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and the European Union Regional Development Funds (AGL2010- 20820). The authors wish to thank the staff of the Centre d'Estudis Porcins (CEP Diputaci o de Lleida) and Indira Medina for their technical assistance during sample collection. In addition, the collaboration of Lorenzo Fraile for pharmacological oestrus synchronization of gilts is acknowledged

Besides the beneficial agronomic properties such as drought tolerance and high biomass production, the high crude protein content of Moringa oleifera (Moringa) makes it comparable to the other high quality forages. This study aimed to evaluate whether Moringa can be an appropriate substitute for alfalfa as a ruminant feed. The study consisted of 4 treatments, namely Moringa leaves harvested at 30 (M30), 40 (M40), and 50 (M50) days after pruning, and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) hay as a control. Simultaneously, their organic matter digestibilities and fermentation characteristics were analyzed by in vitro gas production technique and rumen dry matter and protein degradability kinetics were analyzed by using the nylon bags (in situ) procedure. The results of in vitro study revealed that the potential cumulative gas production for Moringa sample harvested at 30 days after pruning was higher than that of alfalfa while the rate of gas production and the concentrations of ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFA) in Moringa were similar to alfalfa. Moringa harvested at different times had higher in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) content as compared with alfalfa. Despite the apparent higher soluble fraction (a) and the fractional degradation rate (c) in the Moringa samples of various ages than those for alfalfa, the differences were not significant. However, in situ potentially degradable fraction (b) for DM and CP of Moringa harvested at different ages were higher than those of alfalfa (P<0.05). The in vitro fermentation and in situ degradation parameters suggested high similarities in the kinetics of gas production (i.e. a, b, and c) and DM degradation pattern among the three different cutting ages of Moringa and nutritionally they were comparable to alfalfa. In conclusion, alfalfa could be replaced with Moringa leaves in diet of ruminant animal without any adverse effect. ; This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Ahmad Reza Seradj was a recipient of a research training grant from the Government of Catalonia (FIDGR 2011-Generalitat de Catalunya) and Henris Morazán was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain (MAEC-AECID 2009-2011). The authors wish to thank Leonidas Morazán for his assistance.

Sixty-four cross bred 6 week-old intact male pigs (initial BW=13.8 ± 2.3 kg) were randomly distributed to 4 separated modules using a three-phase feeding program in which two dietary crude protein (CP) and total dietary fiber (TDF) levels were tested in a 2×2 factorial arrangement under a commercial-like production system. The room air was sampled and analyzed for NH3 and CH4 while the slurry pit air was sampled and analyzed for CH4 content during the early growing (phase I, 13.8-38.6 kg of body-weight), growing (phase II, 38.6-72.8 kg of body-weight) and finishing periods (phase III, 72.8-108.7 kg of body-weight); at the end of the finishing phase, 16 random pigs were sacrificed and cecum and colon contents were sampled to determine fermentation and microbial parameters. The pH and ammonium content increased with digesta transit being lower in cecum (6.0 and 69.7 mg/L) than in colon (6.3 and 156.3 mg/L) whereas the opposite trend was seen for total VFA and acetate (175.2mM and 62.6 mol/100 mol vs. 141.1mM and 57.2 mol/100 mol, respectively; P < 0.05). Low protein (LP) and high fiber (HF) diets showed a higher NH3 concentration in the colon but not in cecum samples. Dietary fiber also altered intestinal VFA concentration where animals fed Low fiber (LF) diet showed high VFA's concentrations and such effect was more pronounced in colon samples. Total NH3 (1.8, 4.8 and 8.5 g/day) and methane (2.5, 3.5 and 7.5 g/day for Phase I, II and III, respectively) emissions increased consistently with age (P < 0.05), dietary CP level increased NH3 volatilization (6.3 vs. 3.8 g/d for high protein (HP) and LP diets respectively; P < 0.01) and fiber tended to increase methane emission (5.0 vs. 4.0 for HF and LF diets, respectively P < 0.1). The methane production measured at slurry pit contributed significantly to total CH4 emission (3.26, 9.02 and 16.91% in the phases I, II and III respectively). Dietary CP increased total bacteria (TB; 9.7 vs. 9.5; P < 0.03) and total methanogenic archaea (TMA; 7.2 vs. 6.4; P < 0.01) abundances in the intestinal as well as the slurry (6.8 vs. 6.3 Log n° copy/ g fresh matter (FM); P < 0.01) samples ; This work is part of the Feed-a-Gene project and was supported by the European Union's H2020 program under National Institutesof Health [grant number 633531, 2016]. Authors would like to thank Dr. David Parker who generously gave his assistance andconstructive comments to the manuscript, his effort is sincerely appreciated.

Artificial slurry (4% dry matter) was prepared using fresh feces and urine obtained from four pregnant sows fed with commercial diet. Freeze-dried dairy cattle feces were used (external archaea) as co-inoculum (Co-i) and structural carbohydrates (CHO: apple pulp; sugar beet pulp; and wheat straw) as substrates. Bottles were incubated (39 +/- 1 degrees C for 56 days), and the gas production was measured (mbar) and converted to the volume. A sample of produced gas was taken and analyzed for methane concentration using a gas chromatography. Bottles were opened at days 0, 25, and 56 to determine total bacteria, total, and hydrogenotrophic methanogens archaea (HMA) concentrations using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and population biodiversity using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Incubation time reduced the titers of total bacteria and archaea (P0.05), whereas at 10% Co inoculation, titers decreased constantly. Most of the archaeal DGGE bands were observed in all samples, suggesting a common microbial population origin but Co-i supply altered the DGGE structure of archaea populations ; This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and the European Union Regional Development Funds (AGL2010-20820). Ahmad Reza Seradj is a recipient of grant from the Government of Catalunya (FI-DGR 2011) and Henris Morazan was a recipient of grant from MAEC-AECID 2009–2011.