A. Kannan

Deriving nutrient requirements of growing Indian sheep under tropical condition using performance and intake data emanated from feeding trials conducted in different research institutes

Data from 24 feeding trials conducted on lactating cattle from different institutes across India were subjected to regression analysis to derive requirements of ME, TDN, CP and DCP for maintenance, milk production and body weight gain. Maintenance requirements for ME, TDN, CP and DCP were 598 KJ, 39.5 g, 6.27 g and 2.90 g/kg W 0.75 , respectively and the corresponding requirements for production of 1 kg 4% FCM were 5,023 KJ, 332 g, 82 g and 58 g. The corresponding requirements for one g gain in BW were 27 KJ, 1.78 g, 0.44 g and 0.19 g. Regression equations had high R 2 values (0.67 to 0.90) and the equations (F value) as well as coefficients were highly significant (p<0.001). Regressed values were used to develop feeding standards. Derived values matched well with the actual intake versus performance of animals under diverse feeding conditions. The new standards so derived predicted requirements and intake of nutrients for different production levels better than existing feeding standards; as these are based on a more thorough analysis of a larger database, the new feeding standards will be appropriate for wide use in India. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2004. Vol 17, No. 6 : 769-776)

Value Addition of Feed and Fodder by Alleviating the Antinutritional Effects of Tannins

Tannins are one of the important plant secondary metabolites having wide prevalence in the plant kingdom. They are a prominent constituent of various types of feed, fodder and agro-industrial wastes. The intake of tannins at a low level has recently been found to have some positive effects in ruminants. However, the use of tannin-rich biomass as animal feed, having high content of tannins, is limited by the antinutritional effects of tannins at this level in an animal system. A number of physical, chemical, biological and miscellaneous approaches have been developed for inactivation or removal of tannins for enhancement of the feeding value of tannin-rich biomass. However, none of the individual method is successful in total inactivation or removal of tannins without loss of nutritive value, and this limits the utilization of a vast amount of plant resource. A cohesive and an integrated detanninification strategy is required for alleviating the antinutritional effects of tannins in animals and upgrading the feeding value of tanniniferous biomass.

Effect of feeding of calcium hydroxide-treated or vitamin E-supplemented cottonseed meal on plasma gossypol levels, blood parameters, and performance of Bikaneri lambs.

To study the effect of feeding calcium hydroxide-treated or vitamin E-supplemented cottonseed meal (CSM) incorporated diets on plasma gossypol, blood parameters and animal performance, 24 male Bikaneri lambs of 6–7xa0months of age and of uniform body weight were divided into four groups of six animals each in a completely randomized design and respectively fed isonitrogenous and isocaloric concentrate mixtures containing 20xa0% soybean meal (CON) or 40xa0% raw CSM (RCSM), 40xa0% raw CSM supplemented with 500xa0IU of vitamin E per head per day (ERCSM), and 40xa0%, 1.5xa0% calcium hydroxide-treated CSM (CaCSM) along with ad libitum wheat straw throughout 510xa0days of experimental feeding. The lambs on all the diets grew linearly throughout the experimental period. The total weight gain, in turn the average daily gain (ADG), was not affected by dietary variations. The daily intake of dry matter, crude protein (CP), digestible crude protein (DCP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) were found comparable among lambs of all the groups. Though total gossypol intake was similar in RCSM, ECSM and CaCSM groups, however, free gossypol intake was significantly higher (Pu2009<u20090.01) in RCSM, ECSM groups as compared to CaCSM group. Serum iron and blood hemoglobin levels were significantly (Pu2009<u20090.05) lower in RCSM group as compared to CaCSM and CON groups, and ALT activity was significantly (Pu2009<u20090.05) higher on RCSM group as compared to other groups. Plasma gossypol and osmotic fragility of erythrocytes were significantly (Pu2009<u20090.05) increased in RCSM group as compared to CaCSM and ERCSM groups. However, there was no significant difference in the concentration of other blood/serum biochemical constituents among the lambs on different groups. Based on the results, it may be concluded that feeding of 40xa0% CSM in the concentrate mixture of the diet in Bikaneri lambs did not have any major adverse effect in blood parameters and animal performance. Either calcium hydroxide treatment or vitamin E supplementation did not produce any major additional benefits.

Effect of tea (Camellia sinensis) seed saponins on in vitro rumen fermentation, methane production and true digestibility at different forage to concentrate ratios

ABSTRACT The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of tea (Camellia sinensis) seed saponins (TSS) on in vitro rumen fermentation with different forage to concentrate ratios in the in vitro gas production technique. Experimental treatments were a low forage diet (forage: concentrateu2009=u200930:70), a medium forage diet (forage: concentrateu2009=u200950:50) and a high forage diet (forage: concentrateu2009=u200970:30). TSS was added at levels of 0.0%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.8%, 0.9% and 1.0% of substrate. Protozoal count, ammonia-N production and methane production decreased linearly up to the dose level of 0.8% in all the substrates. The maximum reduction obtained was 54.6%, 57.2% and 60.6% for protozoal counts; 29%, 33% and 36% for methane production; and 36.6%, 36.6% and 33.8% for ammonia-N production at low, medium and high forage diets, respectively. Net 24u2005h gas production, short chain fatty acid production, metabolizable energy value increased and in vitro true dry matter and organic matter digestibility significantly decreased due to addition of saponins. Results suggest that TSS has the potential to reduce methane production and positively impact rumen fermentation across different forage to concentrate ratios.

Nutrient intake, digestibility and performance of Gaddi kids supplemented with tea seed or tea seed saponin extract

Objective An experiment was conducted to determine the nutrient intake, digestibility, microbial protein synthesis, haemato-biochemical attributes, immune response and growth performance of Gaddi kids fed with oat fodder based basal diet supplemented with either tea seed or tea seed saponin (TSS) extract. Methods Eighteen male kids, 7.03±0.16 months of age and 19.72±0.64 kg body weight, were distributed into three groups, T0 (control), T1, and T2, consisting of 6 animals each in a completely randomized design. The kids were fed a basal diet consisting of concentrate mixture and oat fodder (50:50). Animals in group III (T2) were supplemented with TSS at 0.4% of dry matter intake (DMI), and group II (T1) were supplemented with tea seed at 2.6% of DMI to provide equivalent dose of TSS as in T2. Two metabolism trials were conducted, 1st after 21 days and 2nd after 90 days of feeding to evaluate the short term and long term effects of supplementation. Results The tea seed (T1) or TSS (T2) supplementation did not affect DMI as well as the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, and acid detergent fibre. Nutritive value of diet and plane of nutrition were also comparable for both the periods. However, the average daily gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were improved (p<0.05) for T1 and T2 as compared to T0. The microbial protein supply was also higher (p<0.05) for T1 and T2 for both the periods. There was no effect of supplementation on most blood parameters. However, the triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels decreased (p<0.05) and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol level increased (p<0.05) in T2 as compared with T0 and T1. Supplementation also did not affect the cell mediated and humoral immune response in goats. Conclusion Tea seed at 2.6% of DMI and TSS at 0.4% DMI can be fed to Gaddi goats to improve growth rate, FCR and microbial protein synthesis.

Effect of replacing oat fodder with fresh and chopped oak leaves on in vitro rumen fermentation, digestibility and metabolizable energy.

Aim: A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing oat fodder (OF) with fresh oak leaves (FOL) or chopped oak leaves (COL) on rumen fermentation and digestibility through in vitro gas production technique (IVGPT). Materials and Methods: Nine different diets were prepared by mixing OF with oak leaves (either FOL or COL) in different ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100). The rations were evaluated through Hohenheim IVGPT with 200 mg substrate and 30 ml of buffered rumen liquor. All the syringes were incubated at 39°C for 24 h in buffered rumen liquor of cattle. After 24 h, the total gas production was recorded, and the contents were analyzed for in vitro methane production, protozoa no. and ammonia-N. Results: Chopping (p<0.01) reduced the tannin fractions as well as non-tannin phenol. Increase in levels of oak decreased total gas production, methane, organic matter (OM) digestibility, and metabolizable energy (ME) values. The polyphenol content of the substrate did not show any significant difference on the protozoal count. Conclusion: In vitro studies revealed that the addition of oak leaves reduced the methane production and ammonia nitrogen levels; however, it also decreased the OM digestibility and ME values linearly as the level of the oak leaves increased in the diet. Chopping was effective only at lower inclusion levels. Further studies, especially in vivo studies, are needed to explore the safe inclusion levels of oak leaves in the diet of ruminants.

Effect of graded levels of soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) shell powder on reproductive performance in broiler breeders

Objective This study investigated the effects of soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) shell powder (SSP) on serum hormone level, egg quality, semen characteristics and reproductive performance of broiler breeders fed with a maize-soybean meal based diet. Methods Ninety six female and twenty four male CARIBRO-VISHAL broiler breeders, 38-week old, were individually caged and randomly allocated to four treatment groups (24 female breeders/treatment and 6 male breeders/treatment): an un-supplemented control (T1) and three groups with 0.0176% SSP (group T2), 0.026% SSP (group T3) and 0.0528% SSP (group T4), to have supplementary saponin at 0, 50, 75, and 150 ppm, respectively, for 42 days. Results The results indicated that serum (p<0.001) and seminal plasma (p<0.05) testosterone level, semen volume (p<0.001), mass motility (p<0.001), and live spermatozoa count (p<0.001) was increased in groups T3 and T4 compared to T2 and control groups. Compared with control group, total sperm count was increased (p<0.001) and dead spermatozoa count was decreased (p<0.001) in SSP supplemented groups. Supplementation of SSP did not affected the quality of egg lay. Compared with control group, fertility (p<0.01) and hatchability (total eggs set and fertile eggs set) (p<0.001) were significantly improved in SSP supplemented groups with the highest improvement in T3 treatment group. Embryonic death was decreased (p< 0.001) in SSP supplemented groups compared to control; lowest embryonic death was recorded in T3 treatment group. Conclusion Thus, it was concluded that dietary supplementation of 0.026% SSP (saponin equivalent 75 ppm) improved the reproductive performance of broiler breeders.

Degradation of euptox A by tannase-producing rumen bacteria from migratory goats

The gut microbiota capable of degrading plant biomass and antinutritional phytometabolites are of immense importance. This study reports isolation and characterization of tannase‐producing rumen bacteria that could also degrade euptox A (9‐oxo‐10,11‐dehydroageraphorone) present in Eupatorium adenophorum (Spreng).

Detannification of Oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) Leaves Through Simple Physical Treatments

Oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) leaves are adequately available as scarcity fodder in North West Himalayan Region of India, but poisoning, even death due to its consumption, limits its use as a sole feed in hill cattle, sheep and goat. Information on easily adaptable technology for detoxification and detannification of leaves are lacking in the literature. Therefore, present experiment was planned for a nutrient protective detoxification and detannification process of Q. leucotrichophora leaves. Five different physical treatments viz., water soaking (12h), sun-drying (5d), shade-drying (5d), chopping and chopping and water soaking of locally collected fresh leaves were done, taking fresh leaves as control. The composition of fresh leaves remained comparable to that of different processed leaves except a small decrease (P<0.05) in total carbohydrate content due to water-soaking and chopping and water-soaking. All the physical treatments were effective in reducing all the polyphenols. Reduction was the maximum for hydrolysable tannins (87.54%), followed by total tannins (70.35%), total phenolics (58.17%), condensed tannins (24.39%) and non-tannin phenolics (1.85%). Maximum reduction in hydrolysable tannin (87.54%) and condensed tannin (24.39%) levels were achieved by chopping combined with water soaking, and least reduction was by shade-drying. On the basis of results, it may be concluded that chopping followed by water soaking would be the best nutrient protective processing technique for detoxification and detannification of Q. leucotrichophora leaves.