Four in vitro experiments (Exp.) were conducted to evaluate lavender essential oil (LEO) effects at 0 (control), 250 (low dose), 500 (medium dose), 750 and 1000 µL per L (high doses) of incubation medium on rumen gas production kinetics (Exp.1), ruminal digestibility and fermentation (Exp.2), methane production (Exp.3) and rumen acidosis (Exp.4). The asymptote of gas production (A) increased qu...

An isotope dilution method using [U-(13)C]glucose and [1-(13)C]leucine (Leu) was conducted to evaluate the effects of rice straw supplemented with urea and molasses (RSUM-diet) on plasma glucose and Leu turnover rates in sheep. Nitrogen (N) balance, rumen fermentation characteristics and blood metabolite concentrations were also determined. Four sheep were fed either mixed hay (MH-diet), or a R...

The objective of this study was to investigate antimicrobial activity, during the storage period, of animal feed and any effects on in vitro rumen digestion by supplementing different levels (5.55, 11.1, and 22.2 g/kg) of freeze dried citrus peel (FDCP) to the feed compared to untreated feed and feed treated with an antifungal agent (AA) at 0.05 g/kg. In a preservation test, feed supplemented w...

1. The effects of a methane inhibitor, ICI 111075, and a propionate enhancer, monensin, were studied using in vitro continuous fermenters. 2. Both compounds increased the yield of substrate energy, carbon and hydrogen in volatile fatty acids (VFA). This was mainly due to an increase in the molar proportion of propionic acid. 3. Improved yields of VFA were accompanied by reductions in methane pr...

.............................................................................................................................. ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................v V...

1. The paper describes the development and construction of an apparatus for maintaining a normal microbial population of the rumen under strictly controlled conditions over long periods of time. 2. The apparatus is simple to construct and operate. It is possible to do four replicate experiments at the same time. 3. The results of three experiments are given. The experiments showed that when the...

The rumen microbial ecosystem is a complex system where rumen fermentation processes involve interactions among microorganisms. There are important relationships between diet and the ruminal bacterial composition. Thus, we investigated the ruminal fermentation characteristics and compared ruminal bacterial communities using tag amplicon pyrosequencing analysis in Yanbian yellow steers, which we...

Six Red Maasai sheep were used to investigate the effects of urea treatment and cotton seed cake supplementation of maize stover on intake, digestibility and rumen fermentation parameters. The basal feeds were Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay (H), untreated maize (Zea mays) stover (US) and treated maize stover (TS), each of which was supplemented with 100 g of cotton seed cake (CSC) to make H+...

Many mammals are herbivores, and most herbivorous mammals live on a diet that makes cellulose digestion essential. The ruminants, which include some of our most important domestic meatand milk-producing animals cattle, sheep and goats have a specialized digestive tract which is highly adapted and has evolved to digest highly fibrous plant materials which nonruminants are unable to utilize. In r...

I . The concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the rumen and caecum were compared when sheep were given barley or dried grass. The molar proportions of VFA in the caecum resembled those in the rumen except that the proportions of isobutyric and isovaleric acids were higher in caecal than in rumen fluid indicating an extensive breakdown of protein during fermentation in the caecum. 2. T...