The research objectives were to measure the concentration of progesterone and prolactin hormone and milk production of New

No abstract

In vitro gas production (IVGP) technique has been routinely used to evaluate the nutritional value of ruminant feed. The pre-requisite of using rumen fluid from fistulae animals is now facing a raising pressure from the animal welfare organization to ban this practice. Alternatively, rumen fluid (RF) from abattoir has been suggested to be used as source of inoculum by a number of scientists. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of rumen fluid taken from cattle that were slaughtered at Surabaya abattoir as inoculum for IVGP measurement and its prediction on metabolic energy (ME) of a complete feed. Fresh rumen fluid of three indigenous cattle, namely Ongole Cross Breed (OCB), Madura (MC) and Bali Cattle (BC) was transferred into a vacuum thermo flask and immediately transported to the animal nutrition laboratory of Brawijaya University for further processes to measure IVGP of complete feed in a completely randomized block design with two replicates each. Gas production was monitored at time intervals and terminated after 48 hours incubation in the oxygen-free glass syringes at 38°C. Feed degradability was calculated by gravimetric method at 48 hours, while prediction of ME content was based on 24 h GP and estimated using the equation described by Menke and Steingass (1979).The results demonstrated that inoculum from OCB resulted in the superiority in all parameters, namely total GP (ml/500 mg DM), potential of GP (ml/500 mg DM), rate constant of gas production for insoluble fraction (ml/hour), and estimated ME content (MJ/DM) compared with MC and BC. Based on these findings it can be concluded that the fermentation process of complete feed in the rumen of OCB is more efficient than MC and BC which reflects to the more efficient interaction among rumen microbes to ferment the feed ingredients.

Context Cassava bagasse is readily available in tropical countries as an energy source for ruminant diets, but previous research has shown low cattle performance at high inclusion rates. Aims The nature of the dose–response relationship between increasing inclusion rate of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) bagasse (CB), substituting for protein meals in diets of fattening cattle, was used to evaluate the reduced animal performance at high inclusion rates. Methods Thirty growing Madura (Bos indicus × javanicus) bulls were fed concentrate-based diets with five levels of CB inclusion at 20 g dry matter (DM)/kg liveweight and elephant grass (Pennesetum purpureum) separately at 5 g DM/kg liveweight. The five tested CB inclusion rates into the offered diet were 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70% of total dry matter. Lines of best fit were used to describe the relationships between animal performance and CB inclusion rate. Key results Intake of dry matter and concentrate both demonstrated a quadratic relationship with increasing CB inclusion, both maximised at 46–47% CB inclusion in the offered diet or a CB intake of ~9.7 g CB/kg liveweight. Liveweight gain and change in body condition score both demonstrated a quadratic dose–response relationship with increasing CB inclusion, with maximal performance achieved at 34–38% inclusion of CB. Although protein content at the highest level of CB inclusion was low (68 g/kg DM), modelling of predicted liveweight gain indicated that this was most constrained by energy intake (as a function of concentrate intake), rather than crude protein. Conclusions Inclusion of CB up to ~45% of the diet, substituting for protein meals, does not improve, but has no detrimental effect, on liveweight gain. The plateauing of CB intake above 50% inclusion in in the offered diet suggests that cattle were eating to a maximal CB intake. Several hypotheses for reduced intake of concentrate at high levels of CB inclusion were proposed, including low protein content and hydrogen cyanide content of the CB, none of which satisfactorily explained why intake of concentrate was depressed above 50% CB inclusion of the diet on offer. Implications Rations should be formulated to contain no more than 50% CB for maximal cattle performance. Further research is required to understand the causes of depressed intake at high inclusion rates of CB.

This research was aimed to investigate the blood profile and daily gain of fat-tailed growing rams by substituting dried leaves of Moringa oleifera (MOL) and Samanea saman (SSL) to other ingredients in the concentrate feed. 16 growing rams aged between 6 and 8 months (PI 0), average body weight (BW) was 13.83±1.73 kg, were placed randomly in an individual cage. The treatments were P 14 L 0 =14% of CP concentrate feed without leaves supplement, P 14 L M-S =14% of CP concentrate feed with MOL (30%),SSL (10%), P 18 L 0 =18% of CP feed concentrates without leaves, P 18 L M-S =18% of CP feed concentrates with MOL (30%), SSL (10%). The rams were fed a basal diet of maize stover plus the concentrate at 2.5 % and 1.% of body weight on dry matter basis, respectively. Drinking water was available ad libitum. Blood sample was taken from the jugular vein and analysed for blood metabolites profile. The results showed that substituting ingredients with MOL and SSL had no significant effect on feed dry matter digestibility as well as on the blood profile. Nevertheless, the total feed intake and daily weight gain increased significantly (P<0.05) as compared to the control diet by 6.5 % and 12.5 %, respectively. The blood profiles of rams i.e.: hemoglobin (8.3 to 9.38 g/dl), leukocyte (47.90 to 68.71/mm 3), erythrocytes (4.95 to 5.85 x 10 6 /mm 3), blood glucose (53.63 to 56.50 mg/dl), blood urea (19.75 to 24.28 mg/dl), albumin (1.95 to 2.28 g/dl), and globulin (2.73 to 4.10 g/dl) were considered within the normal range suggesting that substituting MOL and SSL did not impair the general health of the rams.