Two rumen protozoa vaccine formulations containing either whole fixed Entodinium or mixed rumen protozoa cells were tested on Merino sheep with the aim of decreasing the number and/or activity of protozoa in the rumen. Negative control (no antigen) and positive control (Tetrahymena corlissi antigens) treatments were also included in the experiment. Blood and saliva were sampled to measure the s...

Increasing awareness of hazards associated with the use of antibiotic and chemical feed additives has accelerated investigations into plants and their extracts as feed additives. The present review mainly discusses two classes of plant secondary compounds in this context, i.e. essential oils and saponins. The broader potential of plants and their extracts is illustrated by the progress of an EC...

Protozoa-associated methanogens (PAM) are considered one of the most active communities in the rumen methanogenesis. This experiment investigated whether methanogens are sequestrated within rumen protozoa, and structural differences between rumen free-living methanogens and PAM. Rumen protozoa were harvested from totally faunated sheep, and six protozoal fractions (plus free-living microorganis...

Rumen is a persistent and specific ecosystem consists of bacteria, protozoa and fungus where feed fermentation takes place in it. Produced Hydrogen in rumen can be used in the synthesis of the volatile fatty acids and the microbial protein and its excess would be eliminated through the production of Methane by methanogenesis. Nutritionists have tried to find ways to decrease loss and energy and...

The aim of the present experiment was to test the hypothesis that oral manipulation of feed is a behavioural need in cattle, irrespective of actual rumen load. Twelve rumen fistulated cows were used and subjected to four different treatments: low rumen content+long duration of eating (A), high rumen content+short duration of eating (B), high rumen content+long duration of eating (=positive cont...

Succinic acid is a major end product of two cellulose-fermenting bacteria isolated in pure culture from the rumen of cattle and sheep. Ruminococcus flavefaciens, isolated by Sijpesteijn (1948, 1949, 1951), produced some 0-5 m-mole succinic acid per m-mole cellulose (calculated as glucose) fermented. Bacteroides succinogenes, isolated from the bovine rumen by Hungate (1950), was found by this au...

The use of Tasco (air-dried Ascophyllum nodosum) as a feed supplement for ruminants has been reported to affect rumen fermentation and reduce Escherichia coli O157:H7 shedding in feces, but the mode of action behind this phenomenon is unclear. In this study, the effects of four Tasco levels (0, 1, 3, and 5%) on rumen microbiota and rumen/fecal E. coli O serogroups in rams were investigated. Rum...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to identify the relationship between odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (OBCFAs) and microbial nucleic acid bases in the rumen, and to establish a model to accurately predict microbial protein flow by using OBCFA. METHODS To develop the regression equations, data on the rumen contents of individual cows were obtained from 2 feeding experiments. In the first experime...

Elsden (1945) has shown that the volatile acids in the rumen fluid of sheep are chiefly acetic, propionic, and butyric. Barcroft, MoAnally, and Phillipson (1944) showed that the concentration of volatile acids in the blood draining the rumen was higher than that in the entering blood, indicating absorption from the rumen. Elsden postulated that propionic acid did not arise directly in cellulose...