Effect of carbohydrate sources and cotton seed meal in the concentrate: II. Feed intake, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation and microbial protein synthesis in beef cattle

Abstract

Four, rumen fistulated crossbred (Brahman × native) beef cattle steers were randomly assigned to receive four dietary treatments according to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Factor A was carbohydrate source; cassava chip (CC) or CC + rice bran at a ratio 3:1 (CR3:1) and Factor B was cotton seed meal level (CM); and 109 g CP/kg (LCM) and 328 g CP/kg (HCM) at similar overall CP levels (490 g CP/kg). The animals were fed 5 g concentrate/kg BW, and urea-treated rice straw (UTS) (50 g urea/kg DM) was fed ad libitum. Carbohydrate source did not affect feed intake, nutrient digestibility, blood urea nitrogen, rumen fermentation, or microbial protein synthesis; however, animals fed with CC had a higher population of total viable bacteria than the CR3:1 treatment (P<0.05). Animals that received HCM had a lower total feed intake while ruminal pH was higher than the LCM fed treatment (P<0.05). The population of total viable and cellulolytic bacteria in animals that received HCM were lower than the LCM fed treatment (P<0.05). Moreover, use of HCM in beef cattle diets resulted in lower microbial protein synthesis when compared with the LCM fed treatment (P<0.05) although efficiency of microbial protein synthesis was nonsignificantly different among treatments. Therefore, cassava chip combined with rice bran can be used in a concentrate diet for beef cattle. It is also noted that a high level of cotton seed meal in the concentrate may impact rumen fermentation and animal performance.

Feeding tropical dairy cattle with local protein and energy sources for sustainable production

“…Consistent with the present result, Wanapat et al (2013c) found that cows fed with Hipro-feed diet had a higher total feed intake. However, Wanapat et al (2012Wanapat et al ( , 2013aWanapat et al ( , 2013b did not show any difference on voluntary feed intake of beef cattle, young dairy bulls, and buffaloes by Hipro-feed feeding. The different results could be due to the difference in animal type, feeding programme, and environmental factors.…”

“…This result indicated that a combination of an appropriate carbohydrate source and a high protein concentrate feed may improve rumen fermentation by providing suitable pH conditions for microorganism activity as mentioned by Hungate (1966). It was reported that cottonseed meal in the concentrate did not affect ruminal pH, NH 3 -N, or BUN concentrations (Wanapat et al 2012(Wanapat et al , 2013a(Wanapat et al , 2013b(Wanapat et al , 2013c. This could be due to the efficiency of animals to use nitrogen for microbial protein synthesis.…”

“…Moreover, cows that received Formulation II had higher nutrient digestibility in ***terms of organic matter, CP, aNDF, and ADF compared to those that received Formulation I diet (P < .05). These findings could be due to the presence of cottonseed meal in Formulation II which contains a high level of rumen-undegradable protein (Wanapat et al 2012;2013a, 2013b, 2013c. Moreover, the rumen-undegradable protein and non-structural carbohydrate intakes could also affect nutrient digestibility.…”

Effect of Carbohydrate Source and Cottonseed Meal Level in the Concentrate on Feed Intake, Nutrient Digestibility, Rumen Fermentation and Microbial Protein Synthesis in Swamp Buffaloes

“…Based on the results, it appears swamp buffaloes were able to utilize a higher proportion of rumen fermentable carbohydrate in the diet than young dairy bulls (Wananat et al, 2013) or beef cattle (Wanapat et al, 2012). This could be due to the differences in rumen ecology, especially microbial population, as reported by Wanapat et al (2003) who found that the ruminal protozoal population was lower, while bacteria and fungal zoospores populations were higher in the rumen of swamp buffalo as compared to cattle.…”

“…Our previous studies revealed that using combination of cassava chip and rice bran as carbohydrate sources can improve digestibility, populations of total viable bacteria and proteolytic bacteria (Wanapat et al, 2013). While, using high level of cotton seed meal in the diet, it can further improve total feed intake, milk yield, milk composition and milk income in dairy cows (Wanapat et al, 2012). Moreover, nitrogen balance and volatile fatty acids were remarkably increased when young dairy bulls fed on the concentrate with cottonseed meal (Wanapat et al, 2013).…”