The functional adaptability of the digestive system to the level of feed intake was investigated in the young rabbits by comparing two groups of 12 litters each, weaned at 21 (W21) or 35 (W35) days of age. From 14 days onwards, rabbits were fed a pelleted feed (NDF: 332 g/kg, CP: 177 g/kg, starch: 98 g/kg, as-fed basis). Until 49 days of age, the profile of digestive enzymes was weekly determin...

The high fibrolytic activity and large biomass of strictly-anaerobic bacteria that inhabit the rumen makes them primarily responsible for the degradation of the forage consumed by ruminants. Llamas feed mainly on low quality fibrous roughages that are digested by an active and diverse microflora. The products of this fermentation are volatile fatty acids and microbial biomass, which will be use...

Eight Thoroughbred horses were used to examine the effects of grass hay intake on the fiber digestion and the retention time of digesta in the total gastrointestinal tract and the hindgut segments. The horses were randomly assigned to 2 groups and offered 2.0 (high intake [HI]) or 1.3 kg DM/(100 kg BW • d; low intake [LI]) of timothy hay in equal amounts every 3 h for 17 d. The digestibility an...

In the milk industry in India, bu#alo breeds are most commonly used for milk production. Efficiency of fiber digestion in ruminants is critical for animal productivity. Bacteria play an important role in fiber digestion and utilization. Absolute quantification real-time PCR was used to quantify ten bacterial species in rumen "uid of Surti bu#alo fed green fodder, dry roughage and compound conce...

The ruminant provides a powerful model for understanding the temporal dynamics of gastrointestinal microbial communities. Diet-induced milk fat depression (MFD) in the dairy cow is caused by rumen-derived bioactive fatty acids, and is commonly attributed to the changes in the microbial population. The aim of the present study was to determine the changes occurring in nine ruminal bacterial taxa...