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This study was designed to evaluate the nutrient intake, digestibility, degradability, and ruminal characteristics of Sindhi heifers fed diets that contained a combined total of 75% oldman saltbush hay (hereafter saltbush hay) and prickly pear cactus. Eight 12-month old intact male red Sindhi calves (four fistulated and four non-fistulated) with an initial mean weight of 170 ± 5 kg were assigned to 4 × 4 Latin squares, where factors consisted of four diets, namely 15% hay and 60% cactus; 30% hay and 45% cactus; 45% hay and 30% cactus; and 60% hay and 15% cactus, and four times at which rumen fluid was collected. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) intakes in kg/day and NDF in percentage live weight (LW), water intake, salinity, and conductivity increased with hay level. Intake and digestibility of nonfibrous carbohydrates were curvilinear with higher values in diets containing 30% saltbush hay. The apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM) and organic matter decreased linearly as the concentration of saltbush hay increased in the diet. The pH of the rumen fluid was within the acceptable range for favourable microbial growth. The low temperature and high salinity and conductivity indices in the diets should be viewed with caution at higher concentrations of saltbush hay, because of a possible decrease in nutrient absorption and the development of health problems in the animals. Apparent degradability coefficients of DM and NDF were affected significantly by inclusion of prickly pear and saltbush hay in the diets. Made available in DSpace on 2020-07-07T11:12:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Incorporating-oldman-saltbush-hay-and-prickly-pear-in-diets-for-red-Sindhi-calves-2020.pdf: 938773 bytes, checksum: 61993427762ec33011485d2f2a3f1862 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2020

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of replacing corn with high-tannin sorghum grain in the diet of steers on ruminal degradation of dry matter and fibrous fraction. Four rumen-fistulated cattle with a mean body weight of 519 ± 31 kg were used in this study. These animals were divided into groups using a 4 ´ 4 Latin square experimental design. Animals received four different diets in which increasing levels of ground corn were replaced with high-tannin sorghum grain in the proportions of 0%, 33%, 67% and 100% in the concentrate. Dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were measured by in situ incubation of sorghum grain samples. Rumen residue was analysed for DM and NDF disappearance at incubation times of 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and 144 h. A quadratic behavior was observed in the fraction “c” of the DM and soluble fraction "a" of the NDF of the sorghum grain in function of the replacement levels of corn for high-grain tannin sorghum. Rumen DM and NDF degradability of sorghum grains with high tannin content up to 144 h showed an increasing behavior for all levels of inclusion of sorghum in the diet. The replacement level 67 showed the maximum DM and fibrous fraction disappearance of sorghum grain up to 144 h of incubation. Sorghum grain achieved maximum ruminal dry matter degradation and the fibrous fraction at the 67% replacement level of ground corn by high-tannin sorghum grain in the diet of steers.

This study examined the effect of restricting feed intake and the subsequent compensatory growth in Guzera females. Eighteen animals with an initial age of 21 months and a mean weight of 268.17 kg were placed in three groups according to the alimentary regime: feed ad libitum; feed restricted to 20% dry matter; and feed restricted to 40% dry matter. In the restricted feed phase, the dry mater intake decreased as the restriction levels increased, influencing the reduction in intake of other nutrients. In the realimentation phase, the 40% restricted feed group ingested more dry matter (% BW) and crude protein (weight 0.75 ) than the group fed ad libitum (p 0.001) in the realimentation phase. In the restricted feed phase, the final live weight decreased (p 0.05) compared to the animals with 20% feed restriction, but this was higher than in the group with 40% feed restriction. In the re-alimentation phase, the group with 40% feed restriction achieved higher weight gain rates, which was different from the control and 20% restriction groups. In both phases, the animals in the group with 40% feed restriction presented better feed conversion which was different (p