Effects of Andrographis paniculata and Orthosiphon stamineus Supplementation on in-vivo Rumen Fermentation Parameters and Microbial Population in Goats Fed Urea-treated Rice Straw

Four fistulated Boer cross-bred bucks with 25 kg average body weight was used to test the effects of dietary treated rice straw supplemented with A. paniculata and O. stamineus on in-vivo rumen parameters and microbial population in goats. The study was conducted in 4 periods (4 x 4 Latin square design), where each period was for a duration of 22 d; 10 dof adaptation period, 5 dof sampling and 7 dof change-over. The animals were fed once daily at 0800 (3% body weight) with 60% of urea-treated rice straw and 40 % of one of four concentrate diets: T1-basal diet + 1% A. paniculata, T2-basal diet + 1% O. stamineus, T3-basal diet + 0.5% of A. paniculata and 0.5% O. stamineus (AO) and T4-basal diet without supplementation of herbs. Clean water was provided ad libitum and the animals were individually penned. Rumen contents were sampled at 0, 2, 4, 6 and 12 hafter the onset feeding and the pH was recorded. Rumen pH, VFA's, concentration of ammonia and microbial population in the rumen fluid were measured. The mean rumen pH was the highest (P<0.05) at 2 h in T3 after the onset feeding while the mean concentration (mg/L) of ammonia in the rumen fluid was the lowest at 6 and 12 h in T2 (P<0.05). The molar proportion of valerate was higher (P<0.05) at 6 h in T1. Meanwhile, the acetate to propionate ratio was affected by time where it was significantly higher at 12 h in T3. Significant reduction of total protozoa, methanogens, F. succinogens and R. albus number was observed in the herb-supplemented groups (P<0.05). The results suggest that urea-treated rice straw with herbs supplementation can be fed to goats without impairing their performance. However, further study could be done by increasing the supplementation of herbs in order to observe more effective results

Effect of local medicinal herbs as feed additives on production performance and faecal parameters in laying hens

Medicinal herbs are gaining importance in both human and animal nutrition due to their bioactive components that possess a wide range of beneficial effects on body health enhancement. To concord with the banning of antibiotic growth promoters in animal nutrition, research was carried out to utilize phytogenic feed additives in poultry nutrition as the alternative to improve their overall performance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of the three selected herbs at the level of 1% on production performance and faecal parameters in laying hens. In this study, a total of 96 Bovans Brown layers of 32 wk old were subjected to four dietary treatments in the form of CRD, namely (T1) control, (T2) basal diet + 1% of turmeric rhizome powder, (T3) basal diet + 1% of Vietnamese coriander leaf powder, and (T4) basal diet + 1% of Dayak onion powder. The layers were given 7-d adaption period before the feeding trial started which lasted for 12 wk. The results showed that there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the means of overall feed intake, egg mass, feed conversion efficiency as well as body weight gain among the treatment groups. The hen-day egg production and egg weight of birds in treatments T2 and T4 showed significant differences (P<0.05) compared to control group. Besides, the birds in the treatment groups supplemented with medicinal herbs (T2, T3 and T4) also showed significant reduction in faecal pH and faecal Entero bacteriaceae counts (P<0.05) compared to the control, while significantly improved (p<0.05) the faecal lactic acid bacteria counts as compared to those in the control group. Thus, the present study suggests that dietary supplementation of 1% of turmeric rhizome powder, Vietnamese coriander leaf powder and Dayak onion powder in layer diet can achieve better performance in terms of hen-day egg production and egg weight associated with favourable intestinal environment without any adverse effect

Body water space and turnover rate in female Katjang X Jamnapari goats.

In order to obtain some based-line data on body water space and turnover rate in goats in Malaysia, tritiated water dilution technique was used to measure these two parameters in five pregnant and five non-pregnant does ( > 1 year) as well as in five young (+ 5.4 month-old) female goats. The young goats has a significantly (P <0.05) hinger body water space (898 ml.kg live weight) than either the pregnant (827 ml/kg liveweight) or non-pregnant (848 mi/kg live weight) does, respectively. Body water space (Y, litre) was strongly and positivelt related to live weight (X,kg) : Y = 0.629 + 0.805 X, r = 0.997 ; P < 0.001. The mean turnover rate and half-lives of body water did not differ significantly between the groups; the mean values for all animals were 124.5 m1/kg/d and 4.9 days for water furnover rate and half-lives, respectively. These values were discussed in relation to their future use in the measurement of feed and mineral supplement intake by grazing goats

Digestibility, rumen protozoa, and ruminal fermentation in goats receiving dietary palm oil by-products

Sixteen goats fitted with a rumen cannula were used in completely randomized block design to test the effects of dietary crude palm oil (PO), palm kernel cake (PKC) and decanter cake (DC) on rumen total protozoa counts, rumen fermentation, and digestibility. Goats received once daily (1.5% of BW) one of four concentrate diets: reference diet (RD), DC diet (DCD), PKC diet (PKCD) and RD plus 5% PO diet (CPOD). The RD was based on corn grain and soybean meal and was fed to all goats for 28 days before the start of a 30-day experiment. Organic matter (OM) digestibility was reduced (P < 0.05) by feeding DCD, whereas digestibility of acid detergent fiber (ADF) was higher (P < 0.0001) in the goats fed PKCD. The digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) was higher (P < 0001) in goats fed PKCD followed by those fed DCD, CPOD and CD. Ammonia–N concentration was lower (P < 0.001) for treatments DCD, PKCD and CPOD than for treatment RD. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations were lower (P < 0.05) for treatments PKCD and CPOD than for treatments RD and DCD. Total protozoa counts were higher (P < 0.001) for treatment CD than for other treatments. It was concluded that the dietary DC, and PKC could be included in the diet of goats up to 80% without any adverse effects on dry matter intake; however, rumen fermentation parameters and total protozoa counts were changed