The effects of PEDS on the digestibility of the fermentation substrate in continuous-culture (mg/g)

<p>The effects of PEDS on the digestibility of the fermentation substrate in continuous-culture (mg/g)</p

The internal organs development of calves supplemented with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period.

<p>The internal organs development of calves supplemented with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period.</p

The ingredients and chemical composition of the basal diet.

<p>The ingredients and chemical composition of the basal diet.</p

Growth performance and development of internal organ, and gastrointestinal tract of calf supplementation with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period

<div><p>To investigate the effects of calcium propionate (<b>CaP</b>) supplementation on performance, the development of the internal organ, and gastrointestinal tract of calves at various stages of growth period, 54 male Jersey calves (age = 7 ± 1 d, body weight(BW) = 23.1 ± 1.2 kg) were randomly allocated to three treatment groups. While control calves were fed basis dietary with no additives (0CaP), other treatment calves were fed basis dietary supplementation with CaP at 50 (5CaP) or 100 (10CaP) g kg⁻¹ dry matter. The experiment lasted 160 d and was divided into three feeding stages: Stage 1 (d 0 to 30), Stage 2 (d 31 to 90), and Stage 3 (d 91 to160). Six calves from each group were randomly selected and slaughtered on days 30, 90, and 160 when at the conclusion of each experimental feeding stage. The BW of calves increased with 10CaP after feeding 90 d, whereas it increased with 5CaP and 10CaP at feeding 120d and 160d compared to 0CaP. The 10CaP group improved average daily gain (ADG) of calves at stage 2, and d120-160 of stage 3 compared with the 0CaP group. The ADG of 5CaP was greater than the 0CaP group only at 120–160 d of stage 3 compared with the 0CaP group. The results of feed efficiency were in agreed with ADG as no dry matter intake difference at all stages of growth period. The 10CaP treatment exhibited the greatest spleen weight among the treatment at the end of the experiment; the liver weight of the 5CaP and 10CaP calves at feeding 90 d and of the 10CaP calves at feeding 160 d and were greater than those of the 0CaP animals. The CaP at the tested doses increased the rumen weight after feeding 90d of Jersey calves, and also improved the development of intestine. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with calcium propionate at the tested doses caused a beneficial effect in the growth performance and gastrointestinal tract traits of Jersey calves, thus to add 10% CaP before feeding 90 days was better and 5% CaP supplementation was expected at the period for feeding 90 to160 d.</p></div

The stomach development of calves supplemented with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period.

<p>The stomach development of calves supplemented with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period.</p

Effects of CaP supplementation and ages on intestinal development and morphological measurements of calve.

<p>Effects of CaP supplementation and ages on intestinal development and morphological measurements of calve.</p

The body weight, dry matter intake and feed efficiency of calves supplemented with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period.

<p>The body weight, dry matter intake and feed efficiency of calves supplemented with calcium propionate at various stages of growth period.</p

Effects of Phytoecdysteroids (PEDS) Extracted from <i>Cyanotis arachnoidea</i> on Rumen Fermentation, Enzyme Activity and Microbial Efficiency in a Continuous-Culture System

<div><p>The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation of phytoecdysteroids (PEDS) extracted from <i>Cyanotis arachnoidea</i> on rumen fermentation, enzymes activity and microbial efficiency in a dual flow continuous-culture system. A single-factor experimental design was used with twelve fermenters in 4 groups with 3 replicates each. Fermenters were incubated for a total of 7 days that included first 4 days for adaptation and last 3 days for sampling. PEDS was added at levels of zero (as control), 5, 10, and 15 mg/g of the substrate (DM). The results showed that increasing supplementation levels of PEDS resulted in incremental digestibility of dry matter (DMD) (quadratic, P = 0.001) and organic matter (OMD) (quadratic, P = 0.031), but unchanged digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDFD), crude protein (CPD) and acid detergent acid (ADFD). As supplementation levels of PEDS increased, there were decreased response in the concentration of ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) (linear, P = 0.015) and increased response in molar proportions of butyrate (linear, P = 0.004), but unchanged response in total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) and the molar proportion of acetate and propionate, respectively. Increasing PEDS supplementation levels decreased the ratio of acetate to propionate (linear, P = 0.038), suggesting an alteration of rumen fermentation pattern occurring due to PEDS supplementation in the diet. Supplementation of PEDS significantly increased activities of glutamate dehydrogenase (quadratic, P = 0.001), alanine dehydrogenase (quadratic, P = 0.004), glutamate synthase (linear, P = 0.038), glutamine synthetase (quadratic, P = 0.011), respectively. There were no discernible differences in the activity of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCase), xylanase and protease regardless of the treatments. The daily production of microbial nitrogen (linear, P = 0.002) and microbial efficiency (MOEEF) (linear, P = 0.001) increased linearly as supplementation levels of PEDS increased. The decreased response of fluid NH₃-N and the increased response of MN indicated that PEDS positively increased the synthesis of microbial proteins.</p></div

The ingredients of starter and the nutrient compositions of milk replacement, starter ration, and alfalfa hay.

<p>The ingredients of starter and the nutrient compositions of milk replacement, starter ration, and alfalfa hay.</p

The effects of PEDS supplementation level on the activity of enzymes in continuous culture.

<p>The effects of PEDS supplementation level on the activity of enzymes in continuous culture.</p