Introduction Application of enzymes to improve nutrients digestibility of plant-based feed ingredients for swine and poultry has now been studies for decades. Initially, the main focus was phytase to break down the phytate molecule and release the attached phosphorus molecules. In the last two decades, enzymes to assist digesting NSP were developed, tested, and commercialized. In the meantime, ...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of protected organic acid blends including medium chain fatty acids and different nutrient density diets on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and faecal noxious gas content in growing pigs. A total of 80 crossed [(Landrace × Yorkshire) × Duroc] growing pigs with an initial body weight (BW) of 22.61 ± 2.32 kg we...

an experiment was conducted using 640 day-old sexed commercial broiler chicks (ross 308 strain) from 10 to 49 days of age. the experimental design was a completely randomized factorial one. the experimental units (pens) contained 20 chicks each and were allotted at random to 4 dietary treatments × two sexes with 4 replicates per treatment. four dietary treatments were formulated based on corn a...

Sustained price increases for traditional cereal grain and protein meal feed commodities have forced the pork industry to consider the dietary inclusion of alternative feedstuffs. Crop seed may serve as feedstuffs but their demand as feedstock for human food, biofuel, and bioindustrial products has increased. Together with these products, coproducts such as distillers dried grains with solubles...

Two hundred ninety-eight Rambouillet ewe and wether lambs approximately 9 mo old from Texas were allotted to pens (29 to 30 lambs/pen). Two replicate pens were fed each of five diets. Two methods of restricting energy intake were evaluated: altering nutrient density (55% vs 72.5% vs 90% concentrate levels) and restricting intake of the 90% concentrate pelleted diet (92.5% or 85% ad libitum inta...

A dairy herd submodel was created for integration with other farm submodels to form DAFOSYM, a dairy farm simulation model. The herd submodel determines the best mix of available feeds to meet the fiber, energy, and protein requirements for each of six animal groups. The groups are early-, mid-, late-, and nonlactating cows, heifers over 1 yr old, and younger heifers. Feed intake, milk producti...

The current concern of nutrient loading waterways and soils from livestock manure has increased awareness of methods to reduce excess nutrient excretion. The initial methods for nutrient reduction are simple diet manipulations to feed nearer the requirement of the pig. Further modifications have been made to increase digestibility of feedstuffs. The use of genetically modified corns and additio...

Theoretical arguments suggest that increased plant productivity may not only increase consumer densities but also their fluctuations. While increased consumer densities are commonly observed in fertilization experiments, experiments are seldom performed at a spatial and temporal scale where effects on population fluctuations may be observed. In this study we used a natural gradient in soil fert...

The amount of corn available for animal and poultry feed has been unpredictable in recent years due to the increased use of corn for ethanol production. As a consequence, there has been an increase in the price of feed, chicken, and chicken products. Researchers are exploring alternative feed sources to substitute for corn in poultry ration. This study evaluated the performance and carcass qual...