Effect of a non‐forage fiber of red bean hulls on ruminal mat characteristics, chewing activity and milk production in dairy cows

Abstract

The evaluation of red bean hulls (RBH) as a non-forage fiber source on ruminal mat formation, chewing activity and milk production was determined using two experiments. In experiment 1, four non-lactating, rumen-cannulated Holstein cows were offered a control diet of 60.1% forage, and an RBH diet of 51.6% forage and 9.4% RBH. Although the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake was higher with the RBH diet than the control diet, the physically effective NDF (peNDF) intake was lower. The rumination period tended to be longer with the RBH diet than with the control diet and the ruminal mat was formed even when the RBH diet was consumed. Ruminal fermentation parameters were not affected by treatment. In experiment 2, 40 lactating cows were fed a control diet of 53.4% forage or an RBH diet of 50.3% forage and 8.1% RBH. Dry matter intake, chewing activity and milk production were not affected by diet. Cows sorted against NDF in the control diet, but not in the RBH diet. It is concluded that normal ruminal function can be maintained because the ruminal mat was stratified and rumination activity was not reduced even when a low peNDF diet that contained RBH was given to dairy cows.

Ingestive behaviour in heifers fed diets with increasing levels of babassu cake

“…Ingestive behaviour in heifers fed diets with increasing levels of babassu cake Analysing the diet x period interaction showed that for each period the time spent ruminating decreased when babassu cake substituted the sugar cane, with a reduction ranging from 0.09667 to 0.13233 minutes per period for each g kg -1 of babassu cake. According to Izumi, Miwa and Ishizuka (2014), by-products that contain high levels of nonforage fi bre can replace both the forage and concentrate in ruminant diets. However, due to its smaller particle size, this type of fi bre is not physically eff ective, which implies a faster rate of passage through the rumen and lower fi bre digestibility, consequently stimulating less rumination (MERTENS, 1997), a fact that was seen in the present study.…”

“…The number of re-chews per bolus (NRB) and the number of re-chews per day (NRC) showed decreasing linear behaviour (P < 0.05; Table 7). This can be explained by the reduction in the bulk to concentrate ratio (B:C) of the feed, and the fact that the cake is a source of non-forage fi bre, which is less physically effective and therefore promotes less re-chewing activity (IZUMI; MIWA; ISHIZUKA, 2014;LI, et al, 2014). As such, the diff erence in the physical characteristics of the diets infl uenced rumination behaviour, with the babassu cake not contributing to increased rumination.…”

Effects of substituting kraft pulp with corn silage on dry matter intake, ruminal mat formation, rumen fermentation, and rumination activity in non‐lactating cows

“…Therefore, when using an NFFS as the main fiber source for cows, attention must be paid to the risk of developing subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) (Humer, Aschenbach et al., ; Krause & Oetzel, ). On the contrary, we measured the physical properties of the ruminal mat using the penetration resistance test in the rumen (Izumi, Miwa, & Ishizuka, ; Izumi & Unno, ) and found that a suitable ruminal mat was formed if grass forage was used in combination with NFFS, even if a large proportion of NFFS was given to dairy cows. However, data regarding the relationship between KP feeding and ruminal mat formation do not exist.…”