Impacts of polyclonal antibody preparations from avian origin on nutrient digestibility and performance of backgrounding beef cattle

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of feeding an avian-derived polyclonal antibody preparation (PAP; CAMAS, Inc.) against Streptococcus bovis, Fusobacterium necrophorum, and lipopolysaccharides (40, 35, and 25% of the preparation, respectively) on growth performance (Exp. 1) and apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients (Exp. 2) of beef cattle consuming a backgrounding diet. In Exp. 1, Angus crossbred heifers (n = 70; 360 ± 24 kg of initial body weight; BW) and steers (n = 20; 386 ± 24 kg of BW) were used in a generalized randomized block design. Heifers and steers were allocated to 1 of 18 concrete-surfaced pens (6 pens/treatment) to receive a common ad libitum diet [35% cottonseed hulls, 34% dry-rolled corn, and 20% corn gluten pellets; 15.9% crude protein on a dry matter (DM) basis, 1.58 Mcal/kg DM of net energy (NE) of maintenance, and 0.98 Mcal/kg DM of NE of gain] and 1 of the 3 treatments consisting of feeding 1 (PAP1), 3 (PAP3), or 0 g (CON) of PAP per d for 56 d. Feed intake was recorded daily and BW was obtained on d -1, 0, 14, 28, 42, 55, and 56, to assess average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), and gain:feed (G:F). Plasma concentrations of glucose and haptoglobin were measured on d 0, 14, 28, 42, and 56. In Exp. 2, 25 Angus crossbreed steers (390 ± 24 kg BW) were used in a completely randomized design to receive the same diet and treatments from Exp. 1 (CON; n = 8, PAP1; n = 9, and PAP3; n = 8). Following a 14-d adaptation to diets, feed and fecal samples were collected to determine apparent total tract nutrient digestibility. In Exp 1., overall BW, DMI, ADG, G:F, and plasmatic measurements did not differ among treatments over the 56-d period (P ≥ 0.16). However, from d 0 to 14, a quadratic effect was observed for ADG, in which cattle receiving PAP1 had greater (P = 0.04) ADG compared with CON. In Exp. 2, no difference in DMI was observed (P = 0.88), yet DM, organic matter, neutral and acid detergent fiber, and starch digestibility were least (P ≤ 0.05) for PAP3, whereas digestibility of NDF was greatest (P < 0.01) for PAP1. In summary, feeding 1 g per day of a polyclonal antibody preparation against Streptococcus bovis, Fusobacterium necrophorum, and lipopolysaccharides improved growth performance in the first 14 d and increased fiber digestibility of beef cattle consuming a backgrounding diet. Further research is needed to understand the impaired responses on nutrient digestibility when greater doses are provided.

Polyclonal antibody preparations from avian origin as a feed additive to beef cattle: ruminal fermentation during the step-up transition diets

“…Previous studies have reported that feeding PAP increased DMI by 8.1% in backgrounding beef cattle ( Silva et al, 2022 ) or had no impact on DMI of beef steers ( DiLorenzo et al, 2008 ; Blanch et al, 2009 ). In the current study, DMI was not affected by the inclusion of PAP throughout the study; however, DMI gradually reduced with corn inclusion.…”

“…It is suggested that IgY can agglutinate bacteria, inhibit bacterial adhesion, suppress the bacteria virulence factors, neutralize toxins, and inactivate enzymes ( Xu et al, 2011 ). Previous research demonstrated that a PAP blend against S. bovis , F. necrophorum , and LPS, presented a positive effect on apparent total tract digestibility of the neutral detergent fiber in beef cattle consuming a nonforage backgrounding diet ( Silva et al, 2022 ). Such effects could be explained by the potential of PAP to increase ruminal pH as observed by DiLorenzo et al (2006) , Blanch et al (2009) , and Marino et al (2011) when using PAP against S. bovis and F. necrophorum into high-grain diets of beef steers, beef heifers, and Holstein cows, respectively.…”

Polyclonal antibodies inhibit growth of key cellulolytic rumen bacterial species

“…Oral administration of polyclonal antibodies has been effective against bovine rotavirus and coronavirus, as well as Salmonella, Staphylococcus , and Pseudomonas (Mine and Kovacs-Nolan, 2002 ). Polyclonal antibodies generated toward Streptococcus bovis and Fusobacterium necrophorum dosed in the rumen decreased the abundance of targeted bacteria as measured by most probable number (MPN) viable cell counts (DiLorenzo et al, 2006 , 2008 ) but had varying effects on dry matter intake, volatile fatty acid concentrations, and rumen pH (Marino et al, 2011 ; Silva et al, 2022a , b ). Avian antibodies have also been investigated to reduce methane produced by ruminal archaea (Cook et al, 2008 ).…”