Dietary factors affecting entero-hepatic function of ruminants in the tropics

A lack of feed resources has been identified as the major constraint in ruminant livestock production in the tropics. Although forages, such as grasses, legumes and tree forages and the agro-industrial by-products, such as palm kernel cake, are available in abundance, their utilisation as animal feeds are limited due to the presence of dietary factors which may affect the voluntary intake and the entero-hepatic function of the animals. These dietary factors include saponins and copper in the palm kernel cake, mimosine and tannin in the tree legume (Leucaena leucocephala), sapogenins (epi-sarsasapogenin and epi-smilagenin) in the Signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) and indospicine in the creeping indigo (Indigofera spicata). Great economic losses through general unthriftiness, poor weight gain, inefficient production and death have been attributed to these dietary factors

The essential fatty acids - revisited

Since the discovery of the essential fatty acids (EFA) namely linolenic acid (18:2n-6) and {X-linolenic acid (18:3n-3) in 1929 there has been a tremendous amount of research carried out on their possible sources, metabolism, physiological functions, deficiency symptoms, status assessments and dietary requirements for most animal species including man. They are termed essential fatty acids as they cannot be synthesised by the mammalian cellular system and must be derived from dietary sources. They are also essential functionally as they are required for the well being and health of the animals, including man. Linolenic and {X-linolenic acid are widely distributed in nature, where they are found in plants, and together with their polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolites are also found in many animal products. The EFA occur in a variety of vegetable oils such as corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, sunflower, olive, linseed and palm oil. Grass represents a rich source of EFA providing herbivores with adequate supplies of these fatty acids

The effects of road transportation on some physiological stress measures in goats

A study to assess the physiological stress responses in goats that were subjected to road transportation was carried out using 10 Kacang crossbred does. Five does were transported in the morning with another five transported in the afternoon covering a distance of 46 km in an open-truck at an average speed of 55 km/h. Immediately following the road transportation, there were dramatic increases in neutrophi:lymphocyte ratios and plasma glucose concentrations but plasma cholesterol concentrations and body temperature were not affected. The neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios and plasma glucose concentrations appear to be reliable indicators of stress in goats

Sheep-oil palm integration: Growth performance of dorset x malin and dorset x siamese long tail sheep

This study involved the integration of sheep into oil palm plantations. The growth rates of 25% Dorset x 75% Malin (DMalin) and 25% Dorset x 75% Siamese Long Tail (DSLT) sheep raised in 9, 13, 16 and 21 year old oil palm plantations were evaluated. The measurements were taken by randomly sampling from the flock at birth, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 months of age. The relationship between body weight and age was determined by Brody's model. Consequently, the growth models of sheep were 1) BW = 17.9715 (1-0.9113 exp(-0.0049*AGE)) for DMalin male, 2) BW = 17.7792 (1-0.9230 exp(-0.005*AGE)) for D1V1alin female, 3) BW = 21 (1-0.8778 exp(0.0049* AGAj) for DSLT male and 4) BW = 18.7301 (1-0.8613 exp(-0.0059*AGE)) for DSLT female. The average dai(y gain ofDMalin and DSLT sheep from birth to 10 months of age was 41.0 and 54.1 gm/head/ day, respectively. The males were slightly heavier than the females. Daily weight gains of sheep wae related to the limited grazing period and low quantity of herbage available in old oil palm plantations

Effects of feeding probiotic metabolites on the growth and carcass characteristics of broiler chicken.

The objectives of the study were to determine the effects of probiotic metabolites on the growth rates, feed conversion ratios and carcass characteristics of broiler chicken in an attempt to determine the potential use of probiotic metabolites to replace antimicrobial growth promoters. Three hundred day-old Cobb chicks were reared for 42 days. The five treatment groups comprised of one negative control without antibiotics or probiotic metabolites added into the feed, one positive control with antibiotic added, and the other three comprised of treatment groups with probiotic metabolites added at different concentrations, namely 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%, respectively. The liquid metabolites added were from four strains of Lactobacillus plantarum isolated locally from fermented soya bean (tempeh) and tapioca (tapai ubi). The 60 chicks were assigned to each treatment comprising of six replicates. Each replicate comprising 10 chicks was randomly assigned to battery cages which are kept indoors. The feed and drinking water were provided ad libitum. The chickens were weighed individually every week and the feed weights were also recorded. Nine chickens from each treatment selected, using a stratified random method, were slaughtered at the end of the third week and at the end of the sixth week. Liver and gizzard were weighed while the duodenum, jejunum and ileum were measured. The 1.5% concentration of probiotic metabolites used was an effective dose to be supplemented for growth promoting purposes. The effect of probiotic metabolites on growth was good especially at the early stages. Probiotic metabolites significantly (p0.05) changes to the weight gain. On the contrary, probiotic metabolites improved weight gain numerically especially at the first three weeks. The live weight gain was comparable to those of the antibiotic treatment group. The 1.5% MET also had a low feed conversion at both week 1-3 and week 1-6, contrary to the antibiotic group, which had high feed conversion ratios during week 1-3, although not significant (p>0.05). The probiotic metabolites appear to be potential replacements for antimicrobial growth promotants. The effect of probiotic metabolites on the carcass characteristic was less prominent compared to the growth performances. It was deduced from the results that probiotic metabolites do not have a direct effect on the gizzard. The probiotic metabolites have protective effects on the liver as the liver of the 1.5% probiotic metabolite group was significantly (p0.05) in liver weights between treatment groups. There was no particular effect of the probiotic metabolites on the intestinal length. However, there were correlations (t<0.05) between the feed intake and intestinal length

Fermentation kinetics of some oil palm by-products as ruminant feeds.

The ruminant industry in Malaysia is still not self-sufficient where smallholder farmers keep the majority of ruminant livestock. Limited pasture and poor quality forages urge them to find alternative feedstuffs which are cheaper, of satisfactory nutritive value and available throughout the year. Oil palm by-products meet these criteria, however their fermentation kinetics in the rumen need to be evaluated. The in vitro fermentation kinetics of selected oil palm by-products, namely the oil palm fronds (OPF), palm kernel cake (PKC) and decanter cake (DC) were evaluated using the in vitro gas production technique. The by-products were assessed at inclusion levels of 100% (raw 100% by-product), 15% (15% by-product + 85% concentrate feed, w/w) and 30% (30% by-product + 70% concentration feed, w/w). The in vitro fermentation of the oil palm by-products was carried out in 100 mL sealed syringes with 0.25 g of substrateand 25 mL of rumen fluid-buffer mixture (1:4 v/v), which were incubated at 39ºC under anaerobic condition for 48 h. Evaluation of the fermentation kinetics was performed on the following parameters, namely gas production, rumen pH, protozoal population, volatile fatty acid (VFA) and long chain fatty acid (LCFA) profiles compared with concentrate feed which acted as the control. The decanter cake (DC) at inclusion levels of 15% and 30% yielded similar gas production, rumen pH, VFA, and total unsaturated fatty acid profile as the concentrate feed. However, the 15% and 30% DC significantly increased the total C18:1 trans fatty acids (p<0.05) compared to the concentrate and the other by-products. It is concluded that the decanter cake showed the greatest potential to be included into ruminant livestock feed which should reduce feed costs, although the increase in the unhealthy trans fatty acids must be taken into account

Nutrient intake and digestibility of fresh, ensiled and pelleted oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) frond by goats

Oil palm frond (OPF) is a new non-conventional fibrous feed for ruminants. Evaluation on the nutritive values and digestibility of OPF was carried out using goats. In a completely randomised design, 20 local male goats were assigned to evaluate fresh and different types of processed OPF. A 60 day feeding trial was done to determine the digestible nutrient intake of fresh, ensiled and pelleted OPF and its response on live weight gain of goat. The pelleting of OPF increased (p<0.05) intake compared to fresh or ensiled OPF. The OPF based mixed pellet (50% OPF with 15% palm kernel cake, 6% rice bran, 6% soybean hull, 15% molasses, 2% fishmeal, 4% urea, 1.5% mineral mixture and 0.5% common salt) increased (p<0.05) nutrient intake, digestibility and reduced feed refusals. The mixed pellet also increased digestible dry matter intake (DDMI) and digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) at 80% and 63% level respectively than the fresh OPF. The increased digestible nutrient intake on the OPF based mixed pellet, resulted in increased live weight gain of goats. Furthermore, OPF has a good potential as a roughage source when it is used with concentrate supplement. OPF based formulated feed in a pelleted form could be used as a complete feed for intensive production of goat and other ruminants

Effects of oils rich in linoleic and α-linolenic acids on fatty acid profile and gene expression in goat meat

Alteration of the lipid content and fatty acid (FA) composition of foods can result in a healthier product. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of flaxseed oil or sunflower oil in the goat diet on fatty acid composition of muscle and expression of lipogenic genes in the semitendinosus (ST) muscle. Twenty-one entire male Boer kid goats were fed diets containing different levels of linoleic acid (LA) and α-linolenic acid (LNA) for 100 days. Inclusion of flaxseed oil increased (p<0.05) the α-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3) concentration in the ST muscle. The diet high in α-linolenic acid (p<0.05) decreased the arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6) and conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) c-9 t-11 content in the ST muscle. There was a significant (p<0.05) upregulation of PPARα and PPARγ gene expression and downregulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) gene in the ST muscle for the high α-linolenic acid group compared with the low α-linolenic acid group. The results of the present study show that flaxseed oil as a source of α-linolenic acid can be incorporated into the diets of goats to enrich goat meat with n-3 fatty acids, upregulate the PPARα and PPARγ, and downregulate the SCD gene expression

Canine plasma and tissue fatty acid profiles and their correlation with hair coat conditions

This study was initiated to study the probable relationships between the fatty acid profiles of the plasma, skin, liver and brain and to determine their correlations with hair coat conditions in owned and stray dogs. A total of35 dogs were used in this study. Twenty-three owned dogs obtained from the University Veterinary Hospital (UVH dogs) were subjected to blood sampling and hair coat scoring only. Twelve euthanized dogs were sourced from a local animal shelter (LAS dogs) and blood, brain, liver and skin samples were obtained. Hair coat scores were performed under standardized conditions and was found that the UVH dogs (median score = 4.1) had significantly better scores compared to LAS dogs (median score = 3.1, P<0.05). The UVH dogs had significantly lower (P<0.05) n-6:n-3 ratios and lower plasma arachidonate content. The skin and plasma fatty acid profiles correlated well with each other but no correlation was evident between the brain and plasma fatty acid profiles. Increased amounts of plasma and skin n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids were associated with better hair coat conditions. However, plasma n-6 fatty acids seemed to .have a stronger positive correlation to hair coat scores in dogs (p = 0.683, P<0.05) compared to plasma n-3 fatty acids (p = 0.512, P<0.05) and fatty acid profiles from other tissues. In summary, this report underscores the importance of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids to the hair coat condition of dogs kept under humid tropical conditions