Strategies for the sustainable intensification of ruminant production suggest breeding animals adapted to the environment in which they live using local fodders to maximize efficient ruminal fermentation. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of using Orbignya phalerata (Babassu) and Combretwn leprosum (Mofumbo) leaves in ruminal short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and microbial community, as well as finishing performance, carcass characteristics and meat fatty acid profile of Santa Ines hair lambs. The experimental treatments were diets with 50:50 forage:concentrate ratios, using the leaves of the experimental plants as a 33 g/100 g of dry matter (DM) replacement of Cynodon dactylon (Tifton-85) hay, with three groups: Control (no hay replacement), Babassu and Mofumbo. Twenty-four Santa Ines lambs (body weight = 20.0 +/- 5.2 kg) were used in a randomized experimental design with eight repetitions (5 males and 3.female) per treatment. Ruminal fluid samples of each animal were collected to determine SCFA and microbial community. The male animals were evaluated for finishing performance and carcass characteristics while longissimus lwnborum muscle samples were used for determination of fatty acid profile. Interaction between treatment and sex was observed for total SCFA (P < 0.05). Treatment affected (P < 0.05) propionate, isobutyric, isovaleric and valeric fatty acids. Mofumbo showed a greater relative abundance of rumen fungi and Ruminococcus fiavefaciens, and lower Archaea. There was no difference between treatments (P > 0.05) for finishing performance and carcass characteristics but meat fatty acid characteristics were affected by treatments. A redundancy analysis based on microbial abundance profile demonstrated two clusters, one cluster with Babassu and Control treatments, and other cluster with Mofumbo, with some variables associated to dissimilarity between clusters. These results indicated that the inclusion of these plants in lamb diets affects ruminal short chain fatty acids and microbial population, without compromising the production potential, carcass characteristics and meat fatty acid profile.

In this study, the possibility of using Babassu (Orbignya phalerata) and Mofumbo (Combretum leprosum) leaves for lambs feed was verified. Performance, biochemical and haematological parameters, microbial protein synthesis, nutrient apparent digestibility and enteric production of methane (CH4 ) were evaluated. The experimental treatments included diets with forage-to-concentrate ratios of 50:50, with the leaves of the experimental plants replacing 33% of the Cynodon dactylon (Tifton-85) hay with three treatments: control (no hay replacement) and substitution with Babassu or Mofumbo. For the performance study, 24 Santa Inês lambs were used, in a randomized experimental design with eight repetitions (5 male and 3 female) for each treatment and 48 days of experimental trial. After this period, for nine days, six animals from each treatment were allocated in metabolic cages to determine the apparent nutrient digestibility, microbial protein synthesis and nitrogen balance. Simultaneously, enteric CH4 was measured in vivo. The control group showed higher (p < 0.05) apparent digestibility of acid detergent fibre. Enteric CH4 production of lambs fed Mofumbo leaves did not differ from that of the control group, but was lower (p < 0.05) than in those fed with Babassu. The inclusion of Babassu and Mofumbo leaves showed no negative effects on animal health and did not compromise performance. Mofumbo also presented CH4 mitigating potential, indicating that those plants can be used as ingredients in the composition of lamb diets with the advantage of reducing methane production.

The aim of this study was to identify which age and method of castration causes less acute pain and distress in beef calves. One hundred five Angus bull calves were blocked by age and body weight, and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: control (C; n = 12); band castration (B; n = 12); and surgical castration (S; n = 12); at 1 wk, 2 and 4 mo of age. Physiological and behavioral parameters were collected before, during and after castration to assess acute pain. Physiological measures included blood count, salivary cortisol, haptoglobin, substance P and infrared thermography. Behavioral measures consisted of visual analog score, stride length, hobo data loggers and behavioral scoring of walking, standing, lying, tail flick, foot stamping and head turning. Overall, no physiological or behavioral parameters differed significantly for calves castrated at 1 wk of age. Salivary cortisol tended (P = 0.07) to differ at 1 wk of age when S calves had greater concentrations than B calves. Conversely, both physiological and behavioral indicators of pain/distress were clearly observed when calves were castrated at 2 and 4 mo of age regardless of the method used. A time × treatment interaction (P < 0.0001) was observed for salivary cortisol in 4 mo old calves, with B and S calves having greater concentrations than C calves 60 min after castration, while B had greater concentrations than S and C calves 120 min after castration. Based on behavioral data, S calves at 2 and 4 mo of age, stood (P < 0.0001) and walked (P = 0.04) more but lie down and ate less (P = 0.01; P = 0.002) compared with B and C only at 2 mo of age. At 4 mo of age, S calves tail flicked more (P = 0.0006) and had shorter stride length (P = 0.036) than B and C calves. The indicators of acute pain/discomfort assessed in this study suggest that the most welfarefriendly age and method of castration is band castration at 1 wk of age.

The present study was conducted to find out the effect of supplementing defatted and detoxified neem (Azadirachta indica) seed cake as a partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) in the diet of growing lambs. Male lambs of uniform body weight (8.31 +/- 0.32 kg) were randomly allotted to three groups such as control (diet containing SBM) and two test diets with defatted and detoxified neem cake (DNC) at two levels (34 g and 68 g per kg of diet) replacing 25% and 50% nitrogen of SBM (DNC-25 and DNC-50). The respective diets (concentrate mixtures along with finger millet (Eleucine corocana) straw) were fed individually to lambs for a period of 140 days. The repeated measure ANOVA indicated that lambs on DNC treatments grew on par with control across all the periods and no interaction was observed. The difference in the dry matter intake was not found to be significant (P > 0.05) in any of the three study groups. Similarly apparent nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance, rumen and hormonal profiles did not differ (P > 0.05) across the groups. Humoral and cell mediated immune response measured in terms of antibody titre and lymphocyte proliferation assay was also the same (P > 0.05) across the groups. The relative gene expression of IGF-1 and LHR transcripts in testes tissue was positively influenced (P < 0.05) in DNC-50 treatment (3-4 fold increase) as compared to control and DNC-25. No histopathological changes were observed in vital organs of sheep fed DNC diets compared to control. It can be concluded that based on the studied parameters, DNC can replace 50% of SBM nitrogen with 3-4 fold increase in gene expression in testes tissue. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Summary This scientific report describes the effect of feeding detoxified karanj seed cake as protein replacement of soya bean meal on immunity and pathology in growing lambs. Twenty-four male lambs, 4-6 months of age were divided into four groups of six each and fed with different levels of detoxified karanj seed cake (dKC 0%, dKC 25%, dKC 50%, dKC 75%) for 140 days. Effect on humoral and cell mediated immunity was assessed by antibody titer against Peste des petites ruminants (PPR) vaccination and lymphocyte proliferation assay, respectively. Significant decrease in the humoral immunity in high dose fed group and no change in stimulation index of lymphocytes in all the groups were observed. On histopathology, dKC 75 showed severe changes in intestine, testis and mesenteric lymph node. Thus, the present process of detoxification of karanj seed cake is useful for feeding growing lambs up to 50% protein replacement levels, with little adverse effect on immunity and pathology.

The ruminant production system in Brazil is based mostly on grazing and relies on native pastures and cultivated grass pastures. Improving forage digestibility is essential to overcome the energy loss and excessive nutrient excretion by livestock. Use of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes on tropical grasses has shown promise in increasing forage utilisation and productive efficiency of ruminants. The present study was taken up to evaluate the effect of temperature and pre-incubation time of cellulose-treated substrate (CTS) and xylanase-treated substrate (XTS) on in vitro degradability of Brachiaria decumbens substrate. Two commercial fibrolytic enzymes, cellulase and xylanase, were applied at the manufacturer’s recommended dose of 7.5 and 0.46 enzymatic units per 500 mg DM, respectively. Effect of temperature regimes of substrate exposure (18°C, 25°C and 32°C) and pre-incubation times with the enzymes (0, 12 and 24 h) were investigated in a complete factorial design. Three adult rumen-cannulated Santa Inês sheep served as inoculum donors. Substrates were incubated in vitro in semi-automatic gas production (GP) system and blanks were included for each inoculum. The GP was calculated, rumen degradability and volatile fatty acids (VFA) were determined. Interaction effect between temperature of substrate exposure and pre-incubation time with the enzyme was significant on degradable neutral detergent fibre (DNDF, g/kg) for both CTS (P = 0.01) and XTS (P = 0.04). Net gas production (GP, mL/g DNDF) of XTS (P = 0.06) differ on temperature versus pre-incubation time, whereas CTS were similar (P = 0.34). Partition factor, total VFA and acetate : propionate ratio were non-significant for both the enzymes. These findings highlight that Brachiaria may respond well to exogenous application of cellulase at all the environmental conditions studied and does not need any pre-incubation period.

An experiment was conducted to improve the immunity and egg production of stressed laying birds by organic chromium supplementation for 6 weeks. Birds (5,000 White Leghorn chicken, BV 300 strain) were divided into 5 groups (T1 to T5) having 10 replicates in each group and each replicate having 100 birds with an initial age of 33 weeks. The experimental groups are as follows: T1 is control unaffected by Newcastle disease (ND); all other groups (T2 to T5) were affected by ND and recovering from the disease. T2 is not supplemented with chromium source. T3, T4 and T5 were supplemented with chromium chloride, chromium yeast and chromium picolinate @ 300 ppb, respectively. The results revealed that weekly average egg production was significantly high in T1 followed by T4 during first week of supplementation and increased further. The feed intake was similar in all groups except control group. The mean HI titre for NDV was significantly higher in T4 followed by T5 and least in T2 and T3 during first week of vaccination. The titre was reached at the level of unaffected highly immune bird by second week in T4. Organic chromium supplementation (T4 and T5) reduced the mortality significantly in laying birds. The return on investment was high in chromium yeast (8.28) than the chromium picolinate (5.43). Supplementation of organic chromium to disease stressed laying birds increases egg production and HI titre and it could be useful feeding strategies during biotic stress condition.

Variations were observed in chemical composition and incriminating factors of neem seeds/kernels collected from different parts of Karnataka. Graded levels of neem seed cake (defatted- raw (RNC) and detoxified (DNC) containing concentrate mixtures were further evaluated under in vitro conditions based on in vitro dry matter digestibility and gas production kinetics. RNC at all levels of incorporation reduced IVDMD without affecting gas production and rate of degradation whereas incorporation of DNC at all replacement levels did not affect IVDMD and rate of degradation, thus, can be recommended for in vivo evaluation.

The protein-rich non-conventional detoxified karanja cake (dKC) can be used in place of conventional protein supplements like soybean meal (SBM), groundnut meal, etc. in livestock feed. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of two levels of dKC by replacing SBM on testicular architecture, semen quality and expressions of mRNAs encoding luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) in testes of ram lambs. Eighteen ram lambs were randomly divided into three groups (n = 6) and fed different levels (%) of karanja cake (0% replacement - control; 50% replacement - dKC-50 and 75% replacement - dKC-75) for 140 days. After 120 days of feeding, the semen from the animals was collected and analysed. The testes samples were collected on day 140 of feeding for transcripts expression studies. The dKC-50 group had no change in BW, whereas dKC-75 group showed decreased (P < 0.05) BW as compared with control. The number of animals ejaculated semen in dKC-75 group was lower (P < 0.05) than the control group. A reduction (P < 0.05) in LHR expression in dKC-75 was observed, whereas a reduction in IGF-I expression (P < 0.05) was observed in dKC-50 and dKC-75 as compared with control group. The study reveals that in ram lambs, long-term feeding of dKC at 50% replacement of SBM may not affect BW. However, long-term feeding of dKC as a replacement of SBM may affect testicular function.

The objective of the present study was to modulate seminal plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) by dietary energy and assess the relationship among testosterone and IGF-I levels, semen quality and fertility in adult rams. Twenty-four 1-yr old adult Nellore rams were equally divided into three groups (n = 8) and fed with three different concentrate mixtures formulated using conventional ingredients and finger millet (Eleucine corocana) straw to ensure rams received with similar amount of crude protein with three levels of energy. Rams in low-energy group were offered diets with 20% less energy than the control energy group (optimum energy, 100%, recommended energy level), whereas rams in high energy group were offered diets with 20% more energy than the optimum energy group. Semen was collected from rams 60 days after start of the experimental feeding. The percentages of progressive forward motility, functional membrane integrity and mitochondrial membrane potential of the spermatozoa were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in control and high energy groups as compared to low-energy group. Feeding of low-energy diet significantly (P < 0.05) decreased spermatozoa VSL, VCL and VAP when compared to control and high energy fed groups. The number of spermatozoa binding/oocyte was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in control (11.23 ± 0.20) and high energy (10.57 ± 0.19) groups as compared to the low energy (6.14 ± 0.01) group. The serum and seminal plasma IGF-I levels were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in control and high energy fed groups as compared to the low-energy group. The serum testosterone and cholesterol levels were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the control group as compared to the low-energy group. The seminal plasma fructose levels in optimum energy fed animals were significantly (P < 0.05) higher as compared to other two groups. The seminal plasma IGF-I level had positive correlation with progressive forward motility (r = 0.7) and other velocity (linearity, r = 0.7; straightness, r = 0.7) parameters. The study suggested that the modulation of seminal plasma IGF-I levels by dietary energy is possible and the optimum level of seminal plasma IGF-I is necessary and sufficient to influence semen quality.

An experiment was conducted for a period of 4 weeks to study the stress relieving effect of chromium supplementation on production performance and egg quality traits in Newcastle disease (ND) affected laying hens. Total of 3000 birds (White Leghorn chicken, BV 300 strain) of 33 weeks were divided into 6 groups (T1 to T6) having 10 replicates in each group and each replicate having 50 birds. The group: T1 was control, unaffected by Newcastle disease (ND), while all other groups (T2 to T6) were affected by ND and were recovering from the disease. T2 was not supplemented with chromium source and acted as negative control. T3, T4, T5 and T6 were supplemented with inorganic (chromium chloride), organochromium enriched yeast (OCEY), chromium yeast and chromium picolinate @ 200 ppb, respectively. The results revealed that weekly average egg production was maximum in laying hens of T5 followed by T6 and T4 groups during first week, T5 followed by T4 and T6 during second week while T4 followed by T5 and T6 during third and fourth week. Organic chromium supplementation (T4, T5 and T6) reduced the mortality significantly (P<0.01) in birds. The reduction in the mortality (%) compared to untreated T2 was about 58.06, 54.84 and 41.94% in laying hens of T4, T5 and T6 groups, respectively. No significant difference was observed in feed intake and egg shell thickness among the treatment groups. The egg shell weight was significantly high in the healthy birds (T1) than other treatment groups except for T4 group. Egg cholesterol levels were significantly (P< 0.05) reduced by supplementation of organic chromium. Increase in egg production in ND affected birds and decrease in egg yolk cholesterol by means of inclusion of organic chromium, in particular chromium yeast, organochromium enriched yeast and chromium picolinate supplementation to layer feed could be useful measure for laying hens and it ensures economical benefit.

In the present experiment, 21 rams of uniform body weight and age (~ 1 year) were equally divided into 3 groups to find out the effect of 3 levels of energy, viz. control, low and high energy on growth, nutrient utilization, rumen biochemical profiles and semen quality. Body weight gain increased significantly compared to control and low energy. FCR improved significantly in high energy supplemented groups. Intake of DDM, DOM and TDN were significantly higher in high energy and control groups as compared to low energy group, with similar intake of CP and DCP in all groups. N-balance (g/d) was significantly higher in high energy group as compared to low energy group. Fractionation of VFA revealed a shift in propionate with narrower acetate to propionate ratio in high energy group favoring more body weight gain. Significantly higher semen volume (ml), mass activity (0–5 score) and progressive forward motility (%) were observed in optimum energy group compared to low energy group with no added benefit in high energy supplemented group. It is concluded that energy rich diets tend to increase weight gain of young rams with a shift in rumen volatile fatty acid concentration to propionate side. Nutritional strategies for feeding rams primarily reared for semen production have to be formulated critically as supplemented energy is being diverted for body weight gain rather than improving semen quality.