S. Chakeredza

Ruminal fermentation kinetics in ewes offered a maize stover basal diet supplemented with cowpea hay, groundnut hay, cotton seed meal or maize meal.

The effect on ruminal digestive kinetics of supplementing maize stover (MS) with cowpea hay (CW), groundnut hay (GN), cotton seed meal (CSM) or maize meal (MM) was evaluated in a 5×5 Latin square using five Merino ewes with ruminal cannulae. CW and GN were offered at 30% w/w to MS, while CSM and MM were given at 15 g/kg0.75 per day. There were significant time (p<0.001) and time×diet (p<0.05) effects on pH but the effect of diet alone was not significant (p>0.05). There was a significant (p<0.05) increase in the concentration of ammonia with time on the supplemented diets. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in the concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Butyrate increased with supplementation (p<0.05). Supplementation increased the concentrations of branched-chain and total VFAs with time (p<0.05). The non-glucogenic ratio was not significantly (p>0.05) lower on supplemented diets owing to the higher butyrate concentration. The degradation curve constants were not significantly different (p>0.05), the average effective dry matter degradation being 27.80%±0.618% at 0.05 h–1 flow rate. The chemical and physical characteristics of the cell wall of MS may have presented few sites for microbial colonization, so limiting degradation. These results showed that small quantities of forage supplements can improve the ruminal environment in animals subsisting on low-quality forages and form a basis for comparison with bought-in protein and energy sources.

Effect of Cowpea Hay, Groundnut Hay, Cotton Seed Meal and Maize Meal Supplementation to Maize Stover on Intake, Digestibility, Microbial Protein Supply and Acetate Kinetics in Weaner Lambs

Ten weaner lambs were used in a double 5×5 Latin square design to evaluate the effect of supplementing maize stover (MS) with cowpea hay (CW), groundnut hay (GN), cotton seed meal (CSM) or maize meal (MM) on the intake, digestion kinetics and acetate clearance rate. CW and GN were offered at 30% w/w to MS, while CSM and MM were given at 15 g/kg0.75 per day. Supplementation reduced (p<0.01) MS intake but enhanced (p<0.01) total dry matter intake. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in digestibility. However, the estimated ME intake was significantly (p<0.05) improved by supplementation. The estimated microbial protein supply was almost significantly (p<0.06) improved by 22.68%, 5.35%, 17.58% and 47.90% on the CW-, GN-, CSM- and MM-supplemented diets, compared to the control (7.85 g/day). Microbial protein synthesis efficiency was not significantly affected (p>0.05) by diet, and nor were the acetate clearance rates (p>0.05), which averaged 0.0475±0.0078/min. The improvement in ME intake may have been due to a faster flow rate of digesta and a better balance of nutrients in the end-products of digestion. These results demonstrate that small amounts of forage supplements can improve nutrient intake when animals consume low-quality forages and provide a basis for comparing such supplements with bought-in protein and energy supplements.

Growth performance of weaner lambs offered maize stover supplemented with varying levels of maize and cottonseed meals

Abstract The effect of supplementing maize stover (MS) with 0, 15 and 30 g/kg metabolic weight per day each of maize meal (MM) and cottonseed meal (CSM) on growth performance in Dorper lambs was evaluated in a randomised complete block design with a 3×3 factorial arrangement of treatments. There were no significant ( P >0.05) interaction effects between MM and CSM. There was no significant ( P >0.05) effect of CSM on MS intake but MM significantly ( P P P P P P P >0.05) whereas MM increased fat ( P P >0.05). MM promoted higher subcutaneous fat accretion compared to CSM. These results suggest that responses to protein supplementation depend, among other factors, on level of energy supplied. Offering a single optimal combination for all situations is therefore an over-simplification of a complex scenario.

The influence of fermented putak on diet digestibility and growth performance of weanling pigs

The use of fermented putak (prepared from the stalk of the palm tree; Corypha elata robx) as a substitute for maize meal in pig-fattening diets was evaluated in two experiments in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. Boiled putak was fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisae for 2 weeks and incorporated into pig-fattening rations at zero (control), 100 g raw putak in place of maize meal (UFP), 100 g fermented putak in place of maize meal (LFP) and 200 g fermented putak in place of maize meal (HFP) kg -1 In the first experiment, digestibility of the feeds was evaluated in a Latin Square design using four weaner pigs. In the second experiment, four groups of eight weaner pigs each were randomly allocated to the four diets in a complete randomised design and fed individually for 84 days. In the digestibility trial there were no significant (P > 0.05) differences in feed intakes which were in g per day: 450 (control), 460 (UFP), 448 (LFP) and 453 (HFP). However, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in intake in the growth study. The intakes were in g per day: 752 (control), 581 (UFP), 828 (LFP) and 694 (HFP). There were significant (P < 0.05) depressions in nutrient digestibility on the UFP diet, whereas, the LFP ranked higher than the control except in organic matter digestibility. Apparent digestibility of crude protein was 0.697, 0.639, 0.705 and 0.694 while for crude fibre it was 0.672, 0.546, 0.680 and 0.657 on the control, UFP, LFP and HFP diets, respectively. Gains in body weight during the growth study were 247, 145, 263 and 211 g per day. Results from the study show that 100 g fermented putak kg -1 can be included in pig-fattening diets in place of maize meal with no deleterious effects on the animal, thus releasing the maize meal much needed for human consumption in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.