Anaerobic rumen microorganisms mainly bacteria, protozoa and fungi degrade ligno-cellulosic feeds consumed by the ruminants. The ruminants in developing countries are predominantly maintained on low grade roughage and grazing on degraded range land resulting in their poor nutrient utilization and productivity. Hence, manipulation of rumen fermentation was tried during last two decades to optimi...

Chilling of whole rumen contents prior to preparation of strained rumen fluid enriched with particle-associated microorganisms resulted in rumen inoculum with the highest microbial dry weight, total bacterial counts, and degradation rates for casein and soybean meal. Strained rumen fluid, whole rumen contents blended with strained rumen fluid, chilled strained rumen fluid, and strained rumen fl...

A single injection of 15 g NaCl into the rumen, which increased the osmotic pressure of rumen fluid from 369 to 474 mOsmol/kg, resulted in a decrease in the transfer of blood urea into rumen fluid from 2.3 to 1.6 g N/day in sheep fed 50 g of chaffed oaten hay every hour. It is concluded that the reduced urea transfer was the result of a reduced urea input via saliva. The rumen wall remained vir...

Two trials were conducted to identify the optimal levels of essential oil active components (EOAC) and their combination with fumarate on in vitro rumen fermentation. In trial 1, eugenol, carvacrol, citral and cinnamaldehyde were mixed at ratios of 1:2:3:4, 2:1:4:3, 3:4:1:2, 4:3:2:1 and 1:1:1:1 to make up five combinations (EOAC1, EOAC2, EOAC3, EOAC4 and EOAC5 respectively). The mixtures were s...

The reticulo-rumen is the largest compartment of the ruminant digestive tract, and it harbors a complex anaerobic microbial community capable of producing a wide array of enzymes, some of which are important for the breakdown of plant lignocellulosic and non-structural carbohydrate (starch, sugars) material through the process of fermentation (Russell and Rychlik, 2001). Important outcomes of m...

Pastoral agriculture in New Zealand has a long history of improving the efficiency with which fresh pasture is converted into meat, wool and dairy products. New Zealanders live in a temperate climate where rainfall and pasture growth are the main driving forces in low-input pastoral systems. The process whereby protein in fresh pasture is broken down in the rumen and reassimilated into microbia...

this study was conducted to evaluate the possibility of alfalfa replacement with fenugreek hay for ruminants, using in vitro gas production parameters and some of rumen fermentation characteristics. for this propose, five different total mixed rations were formulated to meet nutrient requirements of 35 kg growing lambs with gradually replacement of alfalfa in control diet (t1) with different le...

An artificial rumen for the study of nutrient digestion by the micro-organisms of the rumen was initially developed by Louw, Williams & Maynard (1949). In this, the micro-organisms were contained in a semi-permeable dialysis sac and the diffusible products of digestion removed by a salt solution, the composition of which approximated to that of saliva and which flowed continuously past the outs...

1. Three experiments were conducted to determine the flow of nitrogen through the rumen and abomasum when cows, steers and lambs were totally nourished on volatile fatty acids infused into the rumen. 2. In two dairy cows (650-700 kg) and two large steers (370-405 kg) the daily flow of non-ammonia-N (NAN) from the rumen was 50.7 and 58 mg/kg live weight (W)0.75 respectively. 3. The flows of NAN ...