Search

Globally, ruminant production contributes immensely to the supply of the highest quality and quantity of proteins for human consumption, sustenance of livelihoods, and attainment of food security. Nevertheless, the phasing out of antibiotics in animal production has posed a myriad of challenges, including poor growth, performance and nutrient utilization, pathogen colonization, dysbiosis, and food safety issues in ruminants. Probiotics (direct-fed microbials), comprising live microbial strains that confer health and nutritional benefits to the host when administered in appropriate quantities, are emerging as a viable, safe, natural and sustainable alternative to antibiotics. Although the mechanisms of action exerted by probiotics on ruminants are not well elucidated, dietary probiotic dosage to ruminants enhances development and maturation, growth and performance, milk production and composition, nutrient digestibility, feed efficiency, pathogen reduction, and mitigation of gastrointestinal diseases. However, the beneficial response to probiotic supplementation in ruminants is not consistent, being dependent on the microbial strain selected, combination of strains, dose, time and frequency of supplementation, diet, animal breed, physiological stage, husbandry practice, and farm management. Nonetheless, several studies have recently reported beneficial effects of probiotics on ruminant performance, health and production. This review conclusively re-iterates the need for probiotics inclusion for the sustainability of ruminant production. Considering the role that ruminants play in food production and employment, global acceptance of sustainable ruminant production through supplementation with probiotics will undoubtedly ensure food security and food safety for the world. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of forage species adapted to the tropical region of Ecuador on gas production, enteric methane, digestion, and ruminal fermentation. The tree forage evaluated were C. arborea, E. fusca, B. forficata, E. poeppigiana, C. argentea, G. sepium, C. tora, and F. macrophylla. Ruminal fluid of four adult sheep fistulated with permanent cannulas in the rumen was used in the in vitro gas production technique. The in vitro gas production parameters were lower (P < 0.05) in the C. arborea (A = 41.68 mL gas/g DM, c = 0.044%/h and Lag = 1.654 h) and the average gas production rate for B. forficata was 1.017 mL/h (P < 0.05). C. arborea presented higher (P = 0.0001) effective degradation and real DM digestibility (40.461 g/kg and 82.51 mg/g, respectively). With respect to VFA, the highest (P < 0.05) proportion of acetic, propionic, and butyric was observed in C. arborea, G. sepium, and E. poeppigiana (72.52, 23.09, and 7.44 mol/100 mol, respectively) and the lowest (P = 0.0001) ratio: acetic/propionic was observed in G. sepium (2.92 mol/100 mol). The content of NH3-N (mg/L) showed no difference. The lowest (P = 0.0001) methane production was observed in C. arborea (1.23 mL CH4/g DM). The use of forage species of tropical climate rich in secondary metabolites in ruminant diets has the capacity to reduce the gas production and enteric methane; however, this is at the expense of the reduction of the fermentation of organic matter in the rumen.

Research efforts have been directed at the use of non-conventional feed ingredients of agro-industrial origin in the poultry industry. Cassava tuber wastes (CTWs) such as the peels, sievates or pulp waste, cassava whey and cassava starch residues are part of such ingredients. Thus, there is need to evaluate their impact in the poultry industry. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding microbe-fermented CTWs to cockerels using performance parameters and the cost of production as response criteria. Two hundred and ten cockerel chicks were randomly assigned to the seven treatment diets in a 16-week feeding trial. Seven diets were formulated containing 0% CTWs, 20, 40 and 60% microbe-fermented cassava peel (MFCP), 20, 40 and 60% microbe-fermented cassava starch residue (MFCSR). The results showed 20% MFCP had similar (P = 0.02) feed conversion ratio to the control. Furthermore, the cost of feed per kg decreased with increasing level of CTWs. In addition, the cost of production per kg body weight gain decreased with increasing inclusion level up to 20% MFCP and 40% MFCSR. It was concluded that the inclusion of 20% MFCP and up to 40% of MFCSR in cockerels’ diet would not adversely affect growth and economics of production.

This study designed to evaluate the effect of dietary wastes of wheat straw, wheat bran and urea (WU) treated with probiotic (PR) and organic acids (OA) on ruminal gas production and digestibility of pumpkin by-product (PB) silage. The quantities of wheat straw (90%), wheat bran (8%) and urea (2%) were used for the initial preparation of silage. The PB was ensiled at various ratios of 80, 82.5 and 85% and 20, 17.5 and 15%, with WU, PR and OA respectively. Ecosyl Products® as a PR and acetic acid as an OA were at application rates of 0 and 0.1%. The compounds of this probiotic include dried Lactobacillus plant arum, sugar, dried mushrooms, di-potassium phosphate, glycine, magnesium sulfate, sodium aluminum oxide, sodium erythorbate. Silages were opened 60 days after ensiling, and chemical composition, produced biogas, dry matter and organic matter digestibility were determined. Dry matter, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber decreased (P

Medicinal plants exhibit colossal impact on poultry industries by improving its performance and productivity. However, some of these plants show adverse influence too by decreasing egg production percentage, egg mass, and microbiota counts. Green tea, nettle, pennyroyal, yarrow, and alfalfa in the form of seed, powder, and extract had vast potentiality to improve immunity, reduce the growth of pathogenic microbes, and improve the viable counts of lactic acid bacteria. Lavender, Alfalfa, and Nettle powder were able to improve egg yolk color. Furthermore, ginger reduced fat content in meat and increased color intensity. Flax seed increased alpha linolenic acid content in tissue, and increased n-3 fatty acid content in breast as well as thigh tissue. Physiological assessment showed that green tea, lavender, nettle, pennyroyal, and yarrow improved poultry immunity. Lavender and nettle improved internal organ traits. Interestingly, the use of flaxseed improved quail egg hatchability. Plants metabolites, particularly carvacrol and thymol showed its pivotal role as natural growth promoters by affecting growth performances, nutrient bioavailability, and immunity of broiler chickens. Additionally, in recent years, micro-encapsulation or nano-encapsulation of plant extracts and its metabolites improved growth performances of broiler chickens, thereby suggested wide utilization of this technique as a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in future. This review sheds a light on beneficial as well as no adverse effects of some of the direct-fed important medicinal plants and its metabolites in poultry nutrition in order to suggest its key role in future poultry enterprise.

Conocarpus is a non-toxic plant and exhibits disparate applications in animal nutrition. Leaves, shoots, and remaining branches of this pruning shrub can be used as ideal feed for livestock. In view of this, this experiment was performed to investigate the effect of silage additive on the chemical composition of Conocarpus (Conocarpus erectus L.) silage as well as in vitro gas production parameters and digestibility in a completely randomized design with four replicates up to 45 days. Sulfuric acid (2.3 l−1 t; A) and molasses (5% w/w; M) were used as a silage additive in this context. The experimental treatments were as follows: (1) No additive (Conocarpus silage; CS); (2) CS + A (CSA), and (3) CS + A + M (CSAM). Samples were used to determine the chemical composition, in vitro gas production, and digestibility parameters. Results showed that dry and organic matter of silage increased (P 0.05) in experimental treatments. The highest (P

Greenhouse gases emission from livestock is the major concern for the ecosystem. Despite the lower contribution of non-ruminants towards greenhouse gas emission as compared to the ruminants, the emission of methane (CH

The strategy of bioconversion of potato waste with rumen fluid from slaughterhouse is a new idea to reduce their environmental pollution. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of using rumen fluid microorganisms along with urea for bioconversion of potato waste (PW) through determining the nutritive value of the remaining product by chemical composition analysis and gas production test. Furthermore, the concentrations of ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFAs), pH, and enzymatic activities in the fermentation medium were determined. A mixture of 400 mL of rumen fluid and 200 g of PW along with different levels of urea nitrogen (UN) including 0 (0UN), 1.5 (1.5UN), 3 (3UN), or 4.5 (4.5UN) g were incubated for 24 h at 39 °C in anaerobic fermentation chambers. Dry matter disappearances of PW after 24-h incubation with rumen fluid were 68.79, 78.03, 73.76, and 70.86% for 0UN, 1.5UN, 3UN, and 4.5 UN, respectively and adding 1.5 g UN to fermentation mixture resulted in higher DM disappearance compared to other treatments (P

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of time of feeding on production performance of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats. Two experiments involving twenty-seven goats (15 bucks and 12 gravid does) were conducted. In Experiment I, the bucks were randomly allocated into three treatments of five replicates and fed for 115 days. In experiment II, pregnant goat-does were randomly allocated into three experimental treatments of four replicates per treatment 1 month to kidding. Goats were either fed in the morning (06:00 h), afternoon (12:00 h), or evening (18:00 h) respectively under natural light cycles. In experiment I, dry matter intake, weight gain, carcass characteristic, and meat chemical composition were not affected (P > 0.05) by time of feeding. In experiment II, data collection on feed intake, feed efficiency (FE), and milk yield spanned 6 weeks and were analyzed. From the results, milk yield in morning-fed goat-does was higher than evening-fed does while afternoon-fed does have the lowest yield at P

Eighty-four male New Zealand White rabbits with average body weight 778 ± 65 g were blocked into four groups to evaluate the ability of sodium bentonite and coumarin in alleviating the toxicity of aflatoxin B1. The first group was fed on a diet without any treatment (CON), while the remaining three diets were added with aflatoxin B1 at 0.25 ppm diet. Diet fed to the third and fourth group of rabbits were further supplemented with sodium bentonite at 5 g/kg (SOB) and coumarin at 5 g/kg (COU) of the diet, respectively. Feeding aflatoxin-contaminated diet (AFL) caused necrosis of liver tissue and reduced the weight gain, average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, nutrient digestibility coefficients, and nitrogen balance of rabbits. This, in turn, was reflected as a reduction in carcass characteristics. The serum collected from rabbits fed aflatoxin-contaminated diet showed decreased levels of total protein, albumin, globulin, glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides, and increased concentrations of urea, creatinine, and liver enzymes. Further, aflatoxin diet increased the cecal pH, and decreased the ammonia nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids, and individual fatty acids proportion of cecal fluid. Supplementing sodium bentonite and coumarin at 5 g/kg diet reduced the negative effects of aflatoxin B1 on growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, biochemical parameters, carcass characteristics, and cecal fermentation profile. Furthermore, the coumarin-supplemented group showed better body weight gains and carcass weights compared to the rabbits fed with diets containing sodium bentonite. In conclusion, both sodium bentonite and coumarin supplementation was beneficial in ameliorating the toxicity of aflatoxin B1. Further, the increased body weight gains and better-feed conversion in coumarin-supplemented rabbits project the coumarin as a better anti-aflatoxigenic supplement.

The immergence of antibiotic resistance, in livestock especially poultry, led to the ban of antibiotics as a growth promoter in some part of the world. This brought about the investigations into the development of various alternatives to antibiotics that will not compromise the integrity of poultry products for safe consumption. Therefore, this study examined the possible impacts of selected plants seeds (pawpaw, mustard, and black cumin) as feed additives on the performance, carcass characteristics, and sensory evaluation of broilers. A total of 180 day-old Arbor Acre Plus chicks were randomly assigned to five treatments of four replicates in a completely randomized design. The five treatments were three plant seed additives: pawpaw (PPS), mustard (MUS), and black cumin (BCS), treatment without additives (CON, i.e., no plants seeds/medications), and treatment with medications and antibiotics (ANT). During the feeding trials that lasted for 8 weeks, body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were considered performance data. At the end of the feeding trials, two birds per replicate were slaughtered for carcass parameters and sensory evaluation. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance. Mustard seed (Brassica juncea) significantly (P = 0.018) supported carcass growth. Further, the highest feed intake was obtained in MUS while the lowest was obtained in CON birds. The PPS had higher (P = 0.013) BWG than in other treatments while the lowest was obtained in CON. Values of FCR were lowest (P = 0.15) in PPS while the highest in CON birds. Furthermore, MUS and PPS had significantly (P = 0.018) and (P = 0.03) higher live weight than CON and ANT, while MUS had higher dressed weight percentage than CON and ANT birds. Broiler meat under diet supplemented with black cumin was relatively found to be most acceptable while meat under mustard seed was the least acceptable. In contrast, the average cost realized per bird was obtained in PPS while the lowest was in CON and ANT. However, broiler diet supplemented with BCS brings about a corresponding decrease in percentage feeding cost reduction among plant supplements.

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) fruits contain bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects. The inclusion of barberry pomace (BP) in finishing diets could potentia...

In ruminants, high fermentation capacity is necessary to develop more efficient ruminant production systems. Greater level of production depends on the ability of the microbial ecosystem to convert organic matter into precursors of milk and meat. This has led to increased interest by animal nutritionists, biochemists and microbiologists in evaluating different strategies to manipulate the rumen biota to improve animal performance, production efficiency and animal health. One of such strategies is the use of natural feed additives such as single-celled fungi yeast. The main objectives of using yeasts as natural additives in ruminant diets include; (i) to prevent rumen microflora disorders, (ii) to improve and sustain higher production of milk and meat, (iii) to reduce rumen acidosis and bloat which adversely affect animal health and performance, (iv) to decrease the risk of ruminant-associated human pathogens and (v) to reduce the excretion of nitrogenous-based compounds, carbon dioxide and methane. Yeast, a natural feed additive, has the potential to enhance feed degradation by increasing the concentration of volatile fatty acids during fermentation processes. In addition, microbial growth in the rumen is enhanced in the presence of yeast leading to the delivery of a greater amount of microbial protein to the duodenum and high nitrogen retention. Single-celled fungi yeast has demonstrated its ability to increase fibre digestibility and lower faecal output of organic matter due to improved digestion of organic matter, which subsequently improves animal productivity. Yeast also has the ability to alter the fermentation process in the rumen in a way that reduces methane formation. Furthermore, yeast inclusion in ruminant diets has been reported to decrease toxins absorption such as mycotoxins and promote epithelial cell integrity. This review article provides information on the impact of single-celled fungi yeast as a feed supplement on ruminal microbiota and its function to improve the health and productive longevity of ruminants.

AIMS The influence of Lactobacillus farciminis on ruminal fermentation characteristics was elucidated in this study. METHODS AND RESULTS Ruminal fermentation was conducted using maize silage ration (R) and concentrate (C) as 75R:25C, 50R:50C and 25R:75C, supplemented with lactic acid bacteria (LB) at 0, 20 and 30 mg g-1 dry matter substrate and their interaction (1st experiment). The same LB product was used at 0, 20, 40 and 60 mg g-1 dry matter of the mixture (1 : 1) of oat straw and concentrate for 48 h of incubation (2nd experiment). At 24 and 48 h of incubation, LB0 produced the highest biogas and LB20 produced the lowest, whereas at 48 h of incubation LB40 produced the lowest. In ration x LB, LB40 resulted in the highest biogas production, while LB0 had the lowest (P

The present investigation was assessed to explore the sustainable mitigation of methane and carbon dioxide production from goats using Moringa oleifera extract and live yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as feed supplements. Treatments include supplementation of 0 (control), 0.6, and 1.8 mL/g dry matter of M. oleifera extract and 0 (control), 2, and 4 mg/g dry matter of commercially available S. cerevisiae into the feeding diet. Higher doses of M. oleifera extract and S. cerevisiae increased the asymptotic gas production from 88.8 to 147.5 mL/g dry matter. The fractional rate of gas production was increased (P 0.05) with the varied doses of additives. M. oleifera extract × S. cerevisiae interaction had non-significant (P > 0.05) influence on asymptotic carbon dioxide emission, fractional rate of carbon dioxide emission, and lag time. Furthermore, the inclusion of S. cerevisiae exhibited increased gas production in a time dependent manner. The proportional methane production was estimated to be decreased (P > 0.05) at high doses of M. oleifera extract and S. cerevisiae at 72 h of incubation with the lowest emission of 11.7%. In contrary to this, the proportional carbon dioxide production was reduced (quadratic effect, P = 0.031) at 72 h of incubation with the lowest emission of 50.3%. In conclusion, the addition of M. oleifera extract and S. cerevisiae in diets would be an invaluable approach for mitigating methane and carbon dioxide emission from goats. These additives at diversified concentrations may be utilized as pronounced cleaner product and additive agents for the ecosystem as well as livestock.

This paper reviews the use of green tea (Camellia sinensis L.) in poultry diets in particular, drawing together the findings of various recent studies, in which attention has been paid to the role of green tea in improving the health of animals and humans. Green tea improved feed intake, final body weight, and nutrient use efficiency and could be used as growth promoter in place of antibiotics. Furthermore, green tea improved immunity against coccidiosis, Newcastle disease, decreased plasma low-density lipoprotein, and decreased serum cholesterol. Animal product quality was improved through decreased meat peroxidation, reduced abdominal fat, improved meat quality, and increased chemical composition of meat. Similarly, egg yolk cholesterol was decreased, egg yolk color was improved, and there was increase in yolk alpha-tocopherol. In quail, green tea improved the intestinal weight, decreased plasma low-density lipoprotein, egg yolk cholesterol, increased edible parts of egg, and improved feed intake and weight gain. Results about green tea showed that it could be supplemented in the diet of broiler, layers, and quail with positive result. This information will be useful for poultry nutritionists, although studies that are more detailed are still needed to prove the effect of green tea on poultry feeding in different situations.

The production of livestock and poultry faces major challenges to meet the global demand for meat and dairy products and eggs due to a steady increase in the world's population and the ban of antibiotics in animal production. This ban has forced animal nutritionists to seek for natural alternatives to antibiotics. In this context, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has received considerable attention in the last decade. It has been reported that feed supplementation with live yeast cells improve feed efficiency, enhance feed digestibility, increase animal performance, reduce the number of pathogenic bacteria, improve animal health and reduce the negative environmental impacts of livestock production. The current review sheds light on the effects of the use of live Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells in the diets of non-ruminant and pseudo-ruminant's animals and the mechanisms by which they exert its effects. This review work revealed that the addition of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in poultry feed causes a phenomenon called competitive exclusion of pathogenic bacteria capable of causing disease adhere to the yeast surface, and so removing a large amount of harmful microorganisms and allowing the Animal defend more effectively, the production of antimicrobial agents, the balancing the gut microbiota and stimulation of host adaptive immune system and improving gut morphological structure, thus these benefits are reflected on the overall poultry health. In addition, in the presence of live Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, the immunity of rabbits was improved due to the high number of white blood cell. In addition, apparent digestibility of acid and neutral detergent fiber was improved in horses and rabbits. Saccharomyces cerevisiae in pig diets augment mucosal immunity by increasing IgM and IgA activity against pathogens, enhance intestinal development and function, adsorb mycotoxins, modulate gut microbiota and reduce post-weaning diarrhea. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Improving digestibility, fermentation characteristics, and reducing greenhouse biogases to protect the environment without the use of synthetic materials is an important goal of modern-day farming and nutritionist. Plant extracts are capable of solving these. This is due to the digestive enzymes and the bioactive components capable of performing antimicrobial functions inherent in these plants. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of standard maize substrate treated with selected herbs and spices extracts on ruminal environmental biogas production and pressure during fermentation via biogas production technique. Herbs (Azadirachta indica leaves (T1), Moringa oleifera leaves (T2), Ocimum gratissimum leaves (T3) and spices (Allium sativum bulb (T4), Zingiber officinale rhizome (T5)) were harvested, air dried, and milled using standard procedures. Methanolic extracts of the herbs and spices were prepared and used as additives at different concentrations (50, 100, and 150 μL) to the maize substrate for in vitro biogas production. Data were analyzed using regression analysis. There were significant (P < 0.05) differences across all the treatments on the volume and pressure of biogas. The pressure and volume of biogas when compared with the levels tested showed differences (P < 0.05) across all the treatments for the prediction of volume from pressure of biogas. The pressure and volume of gas produced in vitro increased (P < 0.05) and biogases decreased (P < 0.05) by the substrate treated with herbs and spices but for the drum stick leaves which was similar for the levels of concentration tested. This means that the level tested had a pronounced mitigation effect on pressure of biogas and volume of biogas produced. It was concluded that the herb and spice extracts have the potential to improve rumen fermentation and reduce the production of biogases in ruminant diet.

Several concerns exist regarding horse rearing such as environmental pollution, antibiotics resistance, digestive disorders, mycotoxins contamination of animal feed, gut health management, and improvement of feed efficiency. Nanoparticles have the potential to address these issues and thus could be used as feed additive. Citrate reduces and stabilizes gold nanoparticles, alongside biosynthesized silver nanoparticles have the potential to prolong and improve digestive enzyme activity, which would enhance starch digestibility in the stomach. Zinc oxide and selenium nanoparticles could be used to improve feed digestibility and volatile fatty acids production. Magnesium oxide, silver, and copper nanoparticles exhibit strong antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative microbes and weaken the biofilm formation of the microbial community. Calcium, zinc, and silver nanoparticles could be used to prevent periodontal disease in horses. In addition, silver nanoparticles may be applied as antifasciolitics and potentially against other gastrointestinal parasites. Environmental concern of equines could be addressed by using cerium oxide, silver, and cobalt nanoparticles to reduce methane emission and zinc oxide could help to reduce fecal mineral output. Fullerol C60[OH]24, a honey-derived silver nanoparticle and zinc oxide nanoparticles exhibit attractive antibacterial properties because of increased specific surface area as the reduced particle enhance unit surface reactivity. Gut health management of equines could be solved with nanoparticles because of the ability of ferrous oxide and copper nanoparticles to improve microbial growth, whereas zinc oxide improves villus height, crypt depth, and villous surface area. It is required to explore in depth the beneficial effects of these nanoparticles as a novel area in the equine industry's both in vitro and in vivo before recommendation to equine owners.

Feed additives are used in animal diets various beneficial reasons including animal growth, remedy for nutrient deficiency, adsorption of toxins, breakdown of anti-nutritional factors and reduced methane production in the rumen. In past 2 decades, many investigations have focused on studying effects of antibiotics on ruminal fermentation, however, European Union has banned the use antibiotics in animal feeds due to human food safety. Therefore, using plant extracts containing a high level of plant secondary metabolites (PSM) can be an alternative for improving animal performance without compromising food security issues. Most of the plant extracts contains PSM that can be serve as natural resource for animal production systems, nevertheless it is largely unexploited as it is considered as anti-nutritional factors. However, in recent years, various studies emphasized that a group of PSM (e.g. tannins, essential oil and saponins) has ability to manipulate rumen fermentation in a favorable way, thus can be used as natural alternatives for improving ruminant production systems. However, the role of PSM still remains unclear due to limited data and need to be more fully exploited to better understand their properties as bioactive compounds. The present review will discuss the use of plant secondary metabolites in rumen metabolism in terms of biochemical and physiological performance on ruminant production systems, covering topics on proven effectiveness, consumer acceptance, environment, animal safety and welfare.

This study examines the effect of including graded levels of safflower meal (SM) [0 (SM0), 150 (SM15), or 200 g kg−1 dry matter (SM20)] in diets of Katahdin–Pelibuey lambs on ruminal fermentation, growth performance, and meat quality. Experimental diets were randomly allocated to 24 lambs (29.25 ± 0.55 kg) in a 60 d feeding trial. On day 30, rumen fluid was collected from each sheep at 0, 3, and 6 h after morning feeding to measure pH, ammonia, and volatile fatty acids. Feed intake, nutrient digestibility, growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality were also measured. Feed intake, ruminal volatile fatty acids concentration, dry matter, and crude protein digestibility were not affected (P > 0.05) by diets. Lambs fed on SM15 had higher (P 0.05) carcass and meat quality traits. Feeding SM-containing diets resulted in similar feed utilization, carcass characteristics, and meat quality to the control diet while improving ruminal fermentation parameters.

The objectives of the present study were to examine the impact of feeding both probiotics and sodium butyrate on calf performance and the economic implication of each treatment. A completely random...

Ruminal fermentation produces greenhouse gases involved in global warming. Therefore, the effect of nutrient combinations on methane, carbon dioxide, and biogas production as well as ruminal fermentation kinetics was evaluated in in vitro studies. In total mixed rations, dietary corn grain was partially replaced by two levels of soybean hulls (a highly reusable residue), and a Moringa oleifera extract (a natural extract) at three concentration levels was added. Higher levels of both soybean hulls and M. oleifera extract delayed the initiation of methane production and resulted in a lower methane and carbon dioxide production. Thus, total biogas production was also lower. Replacement of corn grain by soybean hulls tended to lower methane production rates and asymptotic carbon dioxide production, and a delay in biogas and methane formation was observed. Asymptotic biogas and carbon dioxide production, however, were increased. The presence of M. oleifera extract tended to delay methane formation and to decrease methane production rate as well as asymptotic methane production. Higher M. oleifera extract levels decreased asymptotic biogas production with the control and the highest soybean hull levels. In the presence of M. oleifera extract, asymptotic carbon dioxide production was shown to be quadratically increased with the control and lowest soybean hull levels, but quadratically decreased with the highest soybean hull level. With the exception of fermentation pH, the interaction of substrate type and M. oleifera extract level was shown to have an effect on all fermentation parameters. Most fermentation parameters were shown to be higher when replacing corn grain by soybean hulls, including fermentation pH. Thus, the conclusion could be drawn that corn grain replacement by soybean hulls (an agricultural residue) in the presence of M. oleifera extract (a sparing leaf product) could ameliorate greenhouse gas emissions and improve digestion.

Greenhouse gases mitigation in equine is a new developing area of interest. Methane (CH4) emission is associated with its negative impacts on the environment and its energy loss processes in foregut and hindgut fermenter where it is produced. Hence, this study was designed to examine the influence of two vegetable oils on carbon dioxide (CO2), CH4, and hydrogen (H2) in vitro. Five total mixed rations (TMR) were formulated and used as incubation substrates. Steam rolled corn was replaced by corn oil or soybean oil at 0% (control), 2.4% (low level), and 4.8% (high level) of TMR with 0 and 4 mg of yeast culture per gram dry matter of TMR. The use of yeast and soybean oil resulted in the increased (P

Equines are faced with digestive disorders derived from abrupt feed changes from mainly forages to high-starch cereal grains. This diet change aimed at meeting the nutritional requirements to optimize the horse's performance causes microbial imbalances in the gut, which results in unintended but inevitable health problems such as colic, diarrhea, gastric ulcer, and laminitis. Several strategies are recommended to control these problems. This review is meant to offer plausible and adoptable solutions to digestive disturbances in equines. High-forage diets seem to be the primary solution. However, there are other options such as feeding horses with alfalfa hay for gut pH modulation and gastric ulcer management, avoidance of the off-feed for long periods within a day especially between 01:00 AM and 09:00 AM, yeast supplementation, feeding equines about 2–3 times a day without increasing the quantity of the daily ration, and dietary fatty acid supplementation such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid to increase insulin sensitivity. Protozoa and faunation seem to be a good modulator of gut pH because they help to control the rate of starch degradation without generating methane in horses because acetogenesis is the main hydrogen sink in equines. An appropriate grain mixture of barley–corn or barley–oat avoids gut pH depression. Furthermore, the use of crop by-products such as soybean hull and pectin are good alternative energy sources for equines. Therefore, the use of some sources of fiber in the diet of equines can replace high-starch cereal grains in equine diets because they are capable of providing the required energy to support the energy demands during work.

The present study was conducted to investigate the aqueous extracts of Azadirachta indica (AZN), Cnidoscolus angustidens (CNA), and their combination (MIX) at dosages of 0-, 0.6-, 1.2-, and 1.8- mL for their ability to reduce greenhouse gases and fermentation profiles in an in vitro study using horse feces and a nutrient-dense diet (as substrate). The quantity of greenhouse gas and fermentation profiles were determined in in vitro incubation for 48 h. Extracts of AZN, CNA, and MIX reduced total gas production of the incubated and degraded substrates in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Production of CH

The study aims to evaluate the effect of aqueous and methanolic extracts of three herbs, namely, neem (Azadirachta indica), drumstick (Moringa oleifera) and scent (Ocimum gratissimum), and three spices garlic (Allium sativum), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and onion leaflets (Allium cepa) on ruminal methane production and fermentation characteristics. The feed samples (200 mg substrates plus extracts of the selected herbs and spices) were incubated with rumen liquor taken from three mature West African dwarf ewes at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 h. The results show that extracts of the selected herbs and spices increased the gas produced, from the insoluble fraction, degradability rate, volume of gas produced at time and time of most rapid change in gas produced. The organic matter digestibility (OMD), metabolizable energy (ME) and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) contents of aqueous extracts of the selected herbs and spices (1 ml/200 mg substrates samples) were between 32.82 and 71.34 g/100 g OM, 4.10 and 10.25 MJ/kg DM and 0.28 and 1.31 μmol, respectively. Furthermore, the OMD, ME and SCFA contents of methanolic extracts of the selected herbs and spices (1 ml/200 mg substrates samples) were between 32.82 and 99.50 g/100 g OM, 4.10 and 14.37 MJ/kg DM and 0.28 and 2.07 μmol, respectively. Methane produced from the methanolic extracts of the herbs and spices highly differed (P < 0.05). This study suggests that extracts of the selected herbs and spices have the potential to affect rumen fermentation and also to reduce the methane production in sheep.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bioactive effect of Moringa oleifera leaves hydroalcoholic extract as a dietary feed additive on helminths load and growth performances of goats. Initially, the availability of bioactive compounds in M. oleifera hydroalcoholic extract was analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which showed the presence of heneicosane (35.69%), 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid (22.89%), heptacosane (18.26%), pentatriacontane (4.77%), and hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester (3%) as predominant compounds in the leaves extract. The anthelmintic effect of M. oleifera extract (0 and 60 mL of extract animal-1) was evaluated against disparate nematodes using standard methodology. M. oleifera leaves extract exhibited significant (P = 0.002) anthelmintic activities against Trichuris sp. and Ostertagia sp. with reduced counts of eggs. A completely randomized experiment of 3 treatments comprised of 10 goats in each treatment was designed for the growth performance study. Treatments used in the present experiment were as follows: treatment 1 (T1), 0 mL of extract animal-1; treatment 2 (T2), 30 mL of extract animal-1; and treatment 3 (T3), 60 mL of extract animal-1. Growth performance parameters (body weight, daily weight gain, and feed intake values) of goats fed varied concentrations of M. oleifera extract were estimated as per standard protocols. The T2 and T3 groups' goats offered significant (P < 0.05) increment in body weight. Daily weight gain of the T2 and T3 groups' goats was also increased. Group T3 exhibited maximum feed intake value of 588, 678, 652, and 678 g d-1 at 0, 30, 45, and 60 days, respectively. Feed conversion efficiency was increased for T2 and T3 groups' goats versus T1. Findings of this study concluded that M. oleifera hydroalcoholic extract can be used not only as an effective anthelmintic agent against disparate nematodes but also as a prominent feed additive to improve growth performances of goats.

This study aimed to evaluate the dietary administration of the Caesalpinia coriaria (CC) extract for 30 days on in vitro fecal greenhouse gases production. Fecal samples, as inoculums, were collected from horses given daily 0- (Fecal 0), 60- (Fecal 60) and 120- (Fecal 60) mL CC aqueous extract per animal. The extract dose was mixed with the morning feeding diet at 6:00 h for each horse. During incubation, 0-, 0.6-, 1.2- and 1.8-mL CC extracts were added to the basal diet which was fed to horses (as subtract) and evaluated with each fecal type. Feces from the horses given no CC extract produced the lowest (P = .0014) methane while the fecal from horses given CC produced more methane . It was also observed that all CC doses linearly (P = .0457) produced more methane than the control. Furthermore, Fecal 0 was more efficient and produced less methane for every unit of metabolizable energy, organic matter, and short chain fatty acids while Fecal 60 was the least efficient. Production of H

BACKGROUND The optimal use of feed resources must be considered by most livestock farmers. The use of low-cost agricultural by-products and the processing of these materials is one possible solution in this respect. One such compound is edible button mushroom waste (EM), a large amount of which is produced annually in the mushroom production cycle worldwide. RESULTS Bulk density 100 of EM was smaller than the other groups. These changes also applied to alfalfa for bulk density, which was higher than the replaced waste. The dry matter solubility of EM was higher than that of alfalfa hay, whereas the ash solubility rate for EM was greater compared to alfalfa. Replacing up to 210 g kg-1 alfalfa with EM did not affect the production of purine derivatives, microbial protein, nitrogen excreted in urine and feces, and retained nitrogen, although the organic matter digestibility (OMD) increased, whereas the crude protein digestibility and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) decreased (P

The emergence of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has encouraged researchers to develop auspicious antitubercular drugs. Novel antitubercular drugs can be developed by identifying diversiform targets in M. tuberculosis. Metabolic processes such as cell wall synthesis, amino acid synthesis, cofactor biosynthesis, mycothiol synthesis, DNA synthesis, and ATP synthesis have been identified as promising targets in M. tuberculosis for developing tuberculosis (TB) drugs. Computational approaches such as molecular modeling and docking strategies have shown tremendous efficacy of the disparate ideal ligands against the selected receptors of M. tuberculosis. Additionally, several TB databases are available that help to identify auspicious ligands for assessing preclinical as well as clinical trials toward antitubercular drug discovery. This chapter not only sheds light on the key targets investigated so far in M. tuberculosis, but also analyzes the prominent role of computational tools toward designing and developing efficacious drugs for TB treatment over the next few decades. Computational approaches and unique databases may help in investigating novel cost-effective antitubercular drugs in a short period and may initiate unique antitubercular strategies.

Modern-day intensive system of livestock farming is being faced with the increasing pressure to combat various health-related issues. This will require antimicrobial feed additives or drugs for either curative or preventive purposes. Nevertheless, antimicrobial resistance, re-emerging diseases, and disease outbreak call for the need to develop new drugs or management practices to improve the efficiency of established drugs. The silver nanoparticle has the potential to be useful for various veterinary applications. Silver nanoparticles have anthelmintics and acaricidal properties. It also has the potential to be applied as a preventive and therapeutic agent infectious bursa disease virus. The silver nanoparticle can improve the adaptive immune system, egg hatchability, and stimulated the hydroxylapatite formation. A silver nanoparticle can aid quick wound, surgical wound, and burning healing. Silver nanoparticle has the ability to improve the efficiency of established drug even at the lower doses of such drugs. Nanoparticles can be applied in biosecurity measure in farms in dips, to fumigate incubators, sterilize brooder houses and cages. The ability of silver nanoparticle to bypass placenta barrier suggests that with proper monitoring it could be in fetal programming for drug and nutrient delivery. Nevertheless, despite the potentials of silver nanoparticle, it could cause a shift in gut microbes, affect absorption of some minerals such as K and Fe, and cause sperm anomalies, affect sperm motility and speed. Thus, silver nanoparticle has excellent potentials for various veterinary applications, but there is a need for further field trials.

Feed accounts for 40–60% of total expenses of beef and dairy cattle production costs. Therefore, feed-efficient cattle have a great potential to reduce production costs without compromising meat or milk production levels, resulting in a greater profit margin for producers. Many approaches for measuring feed efficiency are available with residual feed intake being one of the most common. The residual feed intake is defined as the difference between actual dry matter intake and expected dry matter intake based on animal size and production level. Therefore, compared with a least-efficient animal, the most-efficient animal would have a negative residual feed intake coefficient value, indicating that it consumed less dry matter intake while maintaining the same level of production. Recent studies have focused on investigating changes in key metabolites and proteins that would shift metabolic pathways to support better feed efficiency. Recent reports highlighted that in most-efficient cattle metabolic pathways associated with energy, vitamins, and amino acid metabolism in rumen and skeletal muscle are upregulated to provide extra energy, thus, allowing for a similar level of production despite lower dry matter intake. Other studies demonstrated that most-efficient cattle reduce protein turnover in skeletal muscle including upregulation of key protein synthesis pathways, such as mechanistic target of rapamycin signaling, and the downregulation of key proteins in protein degradation such as ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, resulting in greater protein deposition in muscle. In this chapter, we discuss applications of novel comprehensive techniques for protein and metabolite profiling in rumen, intestine, blood, liver, and skeletal muscle to elucidate adaptive biological functions that support better feed efficiency in beef and dairy cattle.

The occurrence of infectious diseases has a significant adverse effect on livestock health and production efficiency. Current diagnostic approaches in veterinary practice are primarily focused on the observation of changes in physical, clinical, behavioral, or performance of individual or groups of animals. In recent years, these diagnostic approaches have markedly improved livestock profitability during their production cycle. This is mainly achieved by using reliable and conveniently available on-farm and point-of-care diagnostic technologies for the rapid and accurate management of animal health. The availability of on-farm and point-of-care technology is rapidly changing decisions for bovine practitioners on both individual sick cows and herd health level. Early detection of infectious diseases using quick, effective, low-cost, automated technologies will allow timely detection of infected animals, thus reducing the economic loss and associated abuse of antimicrobial therapy. Here we review the currently available on-farm and point-of-care diagnostic technologies for health surveillance and disease detection in livestock production systems. We additionally review the advantages and disadvantages of each methodology, concerning their possible effect on the improvement of animal welfare and productivity of farm animals.

This study presents an experimental investigation of the dietary inclusion effect of dried Kochia indica Wight (K) tree foliages on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of growing rabbits. Four experimental diets were prepared in which 25, 50, 75 and 100% of the berseem hay (Trifolium alexandrinum L., Egyptian clover) in the control (K0) diet was replaced by dried Kochia foliages and designated as K25, K50, K75 and K100, respectively. Live weight at 6th, 7th and 8th weeks of age for K25, K50, K75 and K100 diet fed rabbits were similar to the K0 while other diets aside K25 reduced the live body weight and final live body weight. Total body weight gain between week (6–13 weeks of age) was higher (P

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of organic, inorganic, and selenium nanoparticle supplements at the final stage of pregnancy on selenium, zinc, copper, and iron concentrations of goats and placental, colostrum, and milk transfer of these trace minerals from goats to their kids. Forty pregnant Khalkhali goats (30 ± 5 kg) were randomly allocated to four treatments including (1) no supplement (control), 0.6 mg Se head−1 day−1 of selenomethionine (SM), 0.6 mg Se head−1 day−1 of selenium nanoparticles (SN), and 0.6 mg Se head−1 day−1 of sodium selenite (SS), from 4 weeks before the expected day of delivery to delivery day. Blood samples were taken from the goats 4 weeks before the expected day of delivery and on the kidding day. Colostrum samples were collected from the goats immediately after kidding. Instantly after delivery, newborn kids were taken apart from their dams and their blood samples were collected from the jugular vein, before they drank their first colostrums and at 7, 14, 21, and 28 after birthday. The results demonstrated that the whole blood and serum Se concentration was greater in Se-supplemented goats compared with the control (P

Oxidative stress is the excess generation of free radicals and/or a decrease in the response of the antioxidant system. It is known to cause damage to the equine health by unbalancing the stable molecules. The dietary supplementation of vitamins E, C, and β-carotene cause beneficial effect on horses' health. These supplements could transform free radicals into the stable radicals, thereby showing importance in the prevention of diseases associated with oxidative stress. Adding vitamins E, C, and β-carotene to the horses' diets in stressful conditions could decrease the production of free radicals that cause inflammation and tissue damage, the typical characteristics that have been associated with oxidative stress. This review spotlights the available evidence of the benefits of dietary supplements of vitamins E, C, and β-carotene towards the reduction of oxidative stress in horses.

The resistance of microbial strain to the use of medically important antibiotics, high cost of production, and the resistance of ecto and endoparasite to anthelminthic and acaricidal is a cause for concern. There has been intensified effort in search for alternatives to synthetic drugs. Such alternative must be able to kill, reduce, or inhibit pathogenic microbial population while improving the commensal microbes’. Black cumin (Nigella sativa Linn.), pawpaw (Carica papaya Linn.) and mustard (Brassica nigra Linn.) seeds fit into those categories. The antimicrobial functions of black seeds, is preventing the formation of biofilm among microbial strain. The glucosinolate compound in it could be degraded in 48 h by incubating it with fungi (Aspergillus sp. NR-4201) strain. Similarly, Enterobacter cloacae is capable of degrading benzyl isothiocyanate content of mustard. The 15% inclusion of mustard oil in vitro was capable of reducing methane formation. Sinapine a derivative of mustard is cable of enhancing the growth of some microbes except Escherichia coli and thus a potential probiotics. Pawpaw seed is very potent in their control of wide range of ecto and endo parasites. However, seeds of black cumin, pawpaw and mustard might be incorporated into livestock nutrition.

The present context was aimed to assess the influence of medicinal and aromatic plants supplemented diets on growth performance, digestibility, blood serum constituents, and economic efficiency of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) as a model of livestock animals. A total of forty New Zealand White (NZW) male rabbits of 6 weeks of age with an average initial body weight of 837.7 ± 42.4 g were used. Rabbits were distributed into 5 groups (8 rabbits per group). First group served as control (non-supplemented diet), while P1, P2, P3, and P4 groups were supplemented with 1% basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), chamomile flower (Matricaria chamomilla L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), and ginger (Zingiber officinale L.), respectively. The final body weight (13 weeks of age), daily weight gain, daily feed intake, performance index, and feed conversion ratio were increased (P

Termitomyces robustus (Agaricomycetes) and Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer mushrooms are considered as important source of nutrient. They are used as remedy for treatment of various ailments in Southeastern part of Nigeria, yet there is inadequate documentation on the nutritional composition of these mushrooms. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the nutritional composition of the two mushrooms. The assayed phytochemicals were ≤ 1.35% in the two mushrooms. Phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanin were greater in amount in T. robustus than L. squarrosulus. Both mushrooms revealed high amount of carbohydrate and crude protein contents. Highest micronutrient in mg/100 g was recorded in phosphorous (P) in L. squarrosulus, while the least elemental was Zn2+ in T. robustus. All the quantified minerals and vitamins except K+ and vitamin C were greater in amount in L. squarrosulus than T. robustus while, vitamin K was not detected in the two mushrooms. The dominant fatty acid in the tested samples was oleic acid (C18:1) with the highest value recorded followed by stearic acid and palmitic acid in T. robustus. Essential and non-essential amino acids were all present in the two mushrooms with least value and highest values recorded in cysteine and glutamic acid respectively. Data showed that T. robustus and L. squarrosulus are nutrient compliant and could ameliorate deficiencies associated with malnutrition.

Host-rumen-microbe interactions are essential components of many physiological processes, and therefore can affect ruminant health. Classical knowledge of rumen microbiology is based on culture-dependent methodologies, which only account for 10–20% of the rumen bacterial communities. While, the advancement in DNA sequencing and bioinformatics platforms provide novel approaches to investigate the composition and dynamics of the rumen microbiota. Recent studies demonstrated that the ruminal ecosystem is highly diverse and harbors numerous microbial communities. The composition of these microbial communities are affected by various environmental factors such as nutrition and different management strategies. Disturbance in the microbial ecology of the rumen is associated with the development of various diseases. Despite the flow of recent rumen-based studies, rumen microbiota is still not fully characterized. This review provides an overview of recent efforts to characterize rumen microbiota and its potential role in rumen health and disease. Moreover, the recent effects of dietary interventions and probiotics on rumen microbiota are discussed.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Natuzyme enzyme mixture (0, 3, and 6 g/kg dry matter [DM]) on microbial digestion as well as fermentation of wheat straw and alfalfa hay in Arabian horse. Four female Arabian horses (3–4 years, average body weight 400 kg) were fed with diet containing 35% commercial concentrate +65% forage (wheat straw and alfalfa hay) for 2 weeks. The fermentation and gas production of wheat straw and alfalfa hay with different levels of Natuzyme enzyme were determined using standard in vitro gas production protocol (6 replicates). The DM and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility were determined using specific media (four replicates per time). Addition of enzyme had no effect on gas production rate of alfalfa hay (P > .05), but the potential of gas production was increased with alfalfa hay at 3 and 6 g/kg DM of enzyme compared with control. The addition of enzyme to alfalfa did not affect partitioning factor, microbial biomass, microbial biomass efficiency, and cell wall degradability (P > .05). DM digestibility of alfalfa hay after 24, 48, and 72 hours of incubation with mixed cecum contents was not affected by enzyme (P > .05), but NDF digestibility at 24, 48, and 72 hours was increased (P

Despite the extensive availability and use of plant extracts as feed additives in various livestock species, peer-reviewed and scientific evidence of their usage in horses is lacking. This article dealt with the review of reports from recent studies investigating the usage of plant bioactives or extracts in horse nutrition. For the time being, several herbs, either alone or in composites, are being commercialized and openly available in horsemarket stores, which makes it difficult and confusing for horse owners and veterinarians to make a justifiable choice. Usage of ginger extract as a feed additive in sport horses is encourageable as it manages to attain quick recovery after exhaustion in racing and jumping events. Garlic, ginseng, primerose, and rose hip possess potent antioxidative properties, and their supplementation in a regular diet may lessen the chance of occurrence of oxidative stress-related diseases. Owing to their cytoprotective and mucus-stimulatory effects, licorice and Aloe vera extracts have potentiality as feed additives in Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses, as they are more prone for equine gastric ulcer syndrome. Echinacea is able to stimulate the equine immunocompetence on addition to the regular diets of equine species. Besides the anti-inflammatory effect, devils claw possess anorexigenic effect, which can limit feed intake, thus keeping the body condition score in check and avoiding obese-related health problems in horses. Regularizing flaxseed meal or its extract as a dietary supplement may support healthy skin and coat condition due to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids as an active component. Aloe vera, well known for cytoprotective and mucus-stimulatory effects, is found to be efficient in protecting the gastrointestinal tract against ulcers or other disorders on administering as a dietary supplement to equines, but the extent of effect depends on the dosage and extent of supplementation. Although, theoretically plant extracts application is safer compared with synthetic antibiotics or drugs, it does not mean they are completely safe, and few considerations should be given for dosage of the drug, period of administration, apart from monitoring parallel drugs given to prevent herb-drug interactions. The plant extracts with potent benefits, and not tested in horses have to be evaluated with a primary objective to verify the negative side effects, if any, followed by standardization of the dosage.