Cottonseed is a product of the cotton-fiber industry that is extensively used as an energy and protein source in dairy cattle diets. It provides a unique blend of protein, energy and fiber compared with other feedstuffs. Cottonseed is fed to dairy cows at 10 to 15% of the total diet dry matter (DM). Diets containing more than 15% cottonseed generally are high in fat and may contain undesirable ...

Label-MMAcid-Rev030410 BACKGROUND Ruminants are animals that have multiple stomachs to allow consumption and digestion of fibrous feedstuffs. Key to this digestive process is the bacterial breakdown of the fiber in the first stomach or rumen. The bacterial balance in the rumen can shift, allowing the ruminant to adapt to different diets. Ruminal bacteria convert fiber into lactate and volatile ...

In former times, selections in beef cattle were based on conformation alone. Today increased costs of production, competition from other feedstuffs and current exponential growth rates of human populations suggest that while energetic efficiency and volume of production are not the sole over-riding factors in beef cattle production, they are becoming increasingly important. The time has come wh...

The effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on in vitro gas production characteristics, organic matter digestibility (OMD), and metabolizable energy (ME) contents of some grape yield byproducts were investigated. The gas production was recorded after 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 36, and 48 h of incubation. The gas production profiles in triplicate fitted with equation Y =...

A survey was made of the literature concerning the occurrence and incidence of mycotoxic nephropathy in pigs and chicks in different countries. Various etiological factors contributing to the development of the disease were considered. The main nephrotoxic fungi as well as the specific conditions for their growth and toxins production were briefly described. A survey was made about the most fre...

Selected hydrolytic enzymes are added to animal feeds in order to degrade specific antinutritional factors and(or) to increase availability of certain components of feedstuffs to the animal. A method is described that allows detection and quantification of beta-glucanase activity in complex feedstuffs. The method is based on radial diffusion of an enzyme-containing feed extract through an agar ...

Barry Bradford completed dual bachelor’s degrees at Iowa State University and a doctorate in animal nutrition at Michigan State University. In 2006, he began his current position as an assistant professor at Kansas State University. Bradford oversees an active research program focused on alternative feedstuffs, transition cow health, and physiological regulation of carbohydrate and lipid metabo...

The use of carotenoids for yolk, skin and leg pigmentation is a common practice in poultry production. Lutein and zeaxanthin are naturally present in many feedstuffs like alfalfa or corn and are the main carotenoids naturally present in the yolk (>80%). That is why they are also supplemented as feed supplements in diets lacking suitable levels. Other natural (capsanthin) and synthetic (cantaxan...

Forages and crop residues are inexpensive and easily available feedstuffs for feeding grasscutters in captivity. These feedstuffs are nutritionally poor, not balanced for optimum performance and, therefore, required supplementation. Protein requirement of growing grasscutters was determined using thirty two 10-weeks old male grasscutters of equal weights. The grasscutters were separated into fo...

A simplified protocol to obtain fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) directly from fresh tissue, oils, or feedstuffs, without prior organic solvent extraction, is presented. With this protocol, FAME synthesis is conducted in the presence of up to 33% water. Wet tissues, or other samples, are permeabilized and hydrolyzed for 1.5 h at 55 degrees C in 1 N KOH in MeOH containing C13:0 as the internal st...