Cotton cake as an economically viable alternative fibre source of forage in a high-concentrate diet for finishing beef cattle in feedlots

Carcass and meat characteristics of Nellore young bulls fed diet using cottonseed cake as a replacer of the forage fiber source

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of substituting traditional forage fiber sources with cottonseed cake in the diet on both the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of carcass and meat in Nelore young bulls. Twenty-four Nelore steers starting with an average weight of 377.8 ± 43.5 kg, were individually housed in stalls and provided with individualized feeding over a 112-day confinement period. The study followed a completely randomized design with two treatments and 12 replications. The diets incorporated either whole plant corn silage (WPCS) and, cottonseed cake (CSC) as fiber sources, at a rate of 300 g/kg of dry matter. The CSC diet promoted higher carcass weight. Aging animal meat for seven days significantly decreased the shear force from 83.4 to 71.6 N. Although diets did not influence meat composition, WPCS diet provided higher concentrations of C16:1, C18:1n9c, C18:3n3, and C22:2 acid, and CSC diet higher concentrations of C15:0, C18:1n9t, C18:2n6c, and 20:3n3. The WPCS diet provided higher concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids and ω9, and the CSC diet had higher concentrations of ω6 and ω6:ω3 ratio in meat. Cottonseed cake used as a fiber source increases the concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids and ω6 fatty acids in the meat of young bulls finished in feedlot.

Nutrient intake, productive and metabolic parameters of Nellore bulls feed a forage free diet using cottonseed cake as a fiber source

We hypothesized that cottonseed cake in confined Nellore young bulls' diet as fiber source, could maintain or improve the nutrient intake, and productive and metabolic parameters. It was evaluated the total replacement of whole plant corn silage (WPCS) by cottonseed cake (CSC) as a source of fiber in the diet. A completely randomized design with two treatments and 12 replications was used. The treatments were two experimental diets containing 300 g/kg of WPCS or CSC as roughage. All animals at 0, 15, 30, 60 and 112 days were weighed to monitor productive performance and nutrient intake. Dry matter intakes, organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, physically effective neutral detergent fiber, crude protein and non-fiber carbohydrates of the WPCS treatment cattle were higher (p < 0.05), and the ethereal extract intake of cattle fed CSC diet was higher. The BW of cattle fed WPCS was higher in the two initial periods of confinement (p < 0.05). Animals from both treatments showed linear growth during the confinement period. There was a fiber source × period interaction for total weight gain (TWG), average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (FE) (p < 0.05), with the lowest in the first 15 days and the highest at 30 days, reflecting a compensatory gain in animals fed with CSC. Bulls fed with CSC showed negative TWG and ADG in the first period (p < 0.05), but recovered in the following periods, surpassing that of the SC treatment in the last two periods. There was negative EF of bulls fed with CSC in the first period (P < 0.05), but in the following periods the CSC diet did not differ from the WPCS diet. The animals fed CSC diet showed a higher concentration of cholesterol and glucose in the blood plasma (p < 0.05). The forage-free diet containing cottonseed cake as a source of fiber replacing corn silage promoted better animal performance.

In Vitro Digestibility and Models of Cumulative Gas Production of Forage-Free Diet

Our objectives were to evaluate the use of cottonseed cake in replacing corn silage in a diet without forage and to identify the model with higher precision and accuracy of adjustment of parameters of ruminal degradation kinetics. A diet containing corn silage and another with cottonseed cake as a fiber source were formulated. Gompertz, Dual-pool Logistic, Brody, and Ørskov models were evaluated for goodness of fit to gas production. There were significant differences in dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in the in vitro digestibility for diets and fiber sources. The estimated values of the Gompertz (6.77), Brody (6.72), and Ørskov (6.73) models were similar to the observed mean of gas production in the corn silage diet (6.73 mL/100 mg DM). Similarly, the estimated values of the Brody (5.87) and Ørskov (5.89) models were similar to the observed mean of gas production in the cottonseed cake diet (5.87 mL/100 mg DM). The roughage-free diet containing cottonseed cake as a fiber source stimulated higher gas production. Brody and Ørskov models presented higher precision and accuracy in the fitting of kinetics of degradation independent of the fiber source in the diet.

Effect of physically effective neutral detergent fiber on nutrient intake and digestibility, ruminal and blood parameters, and ingestive behavior of confined beef cattle

We aimed to evaluate the effect of levels of physically effective neutral detergent fiber from forage (NDFfor) on confined cattle's metabolism and ingestive behavior. Four crossbred steers (514.0 ± 4.54 kg BW) rumen-cannulated were used. The animals were randomly distributed in a 4×4 Latin square design, and the treatments were diets with 9.5%, 5.5%, 2.5%, and 0.0% NDF from whole plant corn silage. The trial was divided into 4 periods of 21 days. The dry matter, organic matter (OM), crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), physically effective NDF 8mm (peNDF8mm) and NDF1.18mm intakes, and the digestibility of OM and NDF showed a quadratic behavior. The rumen pH values showed a decreasing linear, and the time at pH below 5.8 increased linearly in the diets with lower NDFfor. The production of volatile fatty acids and the proportions of propionate and butyrate showed an increasing quadratic behavior. On the other hand, the proportion of acetate fitted a decreasing quadratic equation. With the lower participation of forage in the diets, the time spent on rumination activity decreased in a quadratic way, and the time spent in idleness increased in a quadratic way. The corn silage can be reduced to 135 g/kg DM in the diet to obtain a minimum of 5.5% of NDF from roughage.

Replacing ground Rhodes grass hay with soyhulls in the pelleted diet: effects on ingestive behavior, nutrient digestibility, blood metabolites, growth performance, and economic viability of intensive fattening Lohi lambs

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of replacing soyhulls (SH) for ground Rhodes grass hay (RGH) in a pelleted diet on ingestive behavior, digestibility, blood metabolites, growth performance, and economic viability of fattening Lohi lambs. A total of thirty male lambs (age: 5 months; body weight 20.4 ± 0.24 kg) were allotted to one of the three diets (n = 10 lambs/diet) under a completely randomized design. The diets were with 25% RGH inclusion (control), replacing 15% RGH with 15% SH as a fiber source (SH-15), and containing only 25% SH inclusion on a dry basis (SH-25). Ingestive behavior parameters like time spent (min/day), bouts frequency (number/day), and bout length (min/bout) for feeding, drinking, rumination, chewing, standing, and lying were not influenced (P > 0.05) by replacing RGH with SH. The dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) chewing rate, rumination rate, and feeding efficiency were also not changed (P > 0.05) by dietary treatments, whereas total dry matter and NDF intakes, and their rumination efficiencies were lower (P < 0.05) for the SH-25 than for the rest of the treatments. The digestibility of NDF and acid detergent fiber (ADF) was higher (P < 0.05) for the SH-25 than for the rest of the treatments. The concentrations of blood metabolites like glucose, blood nitrogen, and cholesterol were not changed (P > 0.05) among the treatment groups. Similarly, performance parameters like dry matter intake, initial and final body weight, average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio were similar (P > 0.05) across the treatments. However, the incidence of loose fecal consistency was higher (P < 0.05) for SH-25 than for the control. The values of economic efficiency were better for SH-25-fed lambs than those fed the rest of the treatments. Based on the results, substituting SH for RGH in a pelleted diet improved the digestibility of fiber fractions, and economics without affecting the growth performance, and blood metabolites of fattening lambs. However, lower rumination efficiency and loos fecal consistency are evidencing less effectiveness of SH fiber.

Sequential use of nutritional additives in diets for finishing Nellore steers in confinement

The objective was to evaluate the effect of using prebiotics (Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii) or Monensin in the confinement initial phase and replacing monensin with probiotics (Bacillus toyonensis) in the final phase. Forty-eight Nellore steers were used, with an initial mean body weight of 356.2 ± 17.98 kg, distributed in a completely randomized design. Two animals per pen were confined in 80 m² pens. The experiment was divided into two stages. The first phase lasted from day 1 to the 30th day, during which the animals were divided into two groups of 24 animals each. The treatments were the nutritional additives added to the diet: monensin or prebiotics (Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii). In the second phase, each group was subdivided into 12 animals by treatment, which received monensin or probiotics (Bacillus toyonensis). Dry matter intake (DMI), animal performance, and economic evaluation of the use of additives were evaluated. There was no additive effect on DMI, average daily gain, and total weight gain of the animals in the first experimental stage (0-30th day). Likewise, in the second stage (31st-100th day), there was no treatment effect for the variables of intake and performance. There was no effect of the use of different nutritional additives on carcass characteristics. The use of prebiotics sequentially to probiotics promoted gross and net yield that was superior to that of the animals that consumed monensin. Yeasts and bacteria respectively in the first and second phases of confinement can replace monensin in confinement diets.

Effect of whole oilseeds in the diet on bacterial diversity in the solid fraction of the ruminal content of steers

Our hypothesis was that different whole oilseeds included in the diet for steers confined could alter the diversity of rumen bacteria compared to a diet without oilseeds or an exclusively forage diet. It was aimed to evaluate the effects of oilseeds inclusion in the diet on bacterial diversity in the solid fraction of the ruminal content of steers, by gene sequences of the conserved 16S rDNA region. Six crossbred steers castrated males, fitted with ruminal cannula were used in a 6 × 6 Latin square design, using 21-day period. At the start of the experiment, the live weight of the animals averaged 416 ± 9.7 kg (mean ± SD). A total of 2,180,562 16S rDNA sequences were generated for the Bacteria domain by MiSeq sequencing. The bacterial diversity was composed of 24 bacterial phyla, with the most abundant being Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. Other phyla with less diversity were also identified including Eurychaeota, Tenericutes, SR1 Absconditalbacteria, Synergistetes, Actinobacteria, Saccharibacteria, Elusimicrobia, Cyanobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Fusobacteria, Lentisphaerae. The similarity in the bacterial community averaged 50% for all the experimental diets. Steers-fed corn silage exhibited a great diversity of bacteria of the Firmicutes phylum. The steers-fed oilseeds in the diet had a great diversity of bacteria from the phylum Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. The inclusion of whole oilseeds in the steer diets can alter the rumen bacteria population by up to 50% of total diversity.