The importance of the use of exogenous butyrate in calves' diets is due to its role as a factor stimulating the functional development of ruminal epithelium and improving calf performance during the transition from preruminant to ruminant status. Our review will first present results related to effects of the administration of butyrate in calves' diets on the development of ruminal epithelium toward a more effective absorption and metabolism of fermentation products from the rumen. The introduction of sodium butyrate at a level of about 0.3% of diet dry matter is accompanied by an increase to 35% in butyrate concentration in the rumen of 33-day-old calves. Mutual reliance between an enhanced ruminal concentration of butyrate and the activities of transcription factors, genes and proteins involved in cell proliferation, ketogenesis and the maintenance of cell pH homeostasis in the ruminal epithelial cells has been clearly confirmed in many experiments. Second, the review presents results related to the effects of the introduction of butyrate salts in the diet on calf performance. Of 11 studies a positive effect was found in six; five of these were obtained from the calves that started receiving butyrate supplement at a level of about 0.3% diet dry matter from the age of 3 to 5 days. Results indicate that when a supplement is given to calves soon after birth the functional development of ruminal epithelium in cooperation with the endocrine and digestion systems is transferred into improving the efficiency of rearing. There have been no studies on the effects of greater amounts of butyrate salts in milk replacer; butyrate constitutes about 1.2% of the whole cow's milk dry matter. In older calves, when butyrate administration is provided as a component of a starter concentrate at the increasing inclusion rate from 0.3% to 3.0%, the practical effect in calf performance relates to the risk of depression of rumen pH below 5.5 and accompanying disruption of the organization of the ruminal epithelial tissue. The higher risk is noted in calves received starter with substantial content of a rapidly degradable starch. At present, the insufficient number of positive results confirming the beneficial effect of butyrate supplements in terms of an improvement in performance does not allow their recommendation for use in the practical feeding of calves.
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is a source of high-quality edible protein and oil for humans, but also a high-quality feed in livestock feeding. In Poland, imported genetically modified soybean meal covers 65%, and leguminous seeds that are cultivated locally cover 11% of the protein requirement in livestock nutrition. The implementation of the Polish national program and the European strategy supporting the growth of the leguminous area resulted in adaptation to local agro-climatic conditions of 36 varieties of non-genetically modified soybean (n-GM), which achieved an average seed yield of about 3.7 t·ha−1 with a content of about 38% protein and 23% fat in dry matter. The 27-fold increase in n-GM soybean cultivation area observed over the past eight years resulted in the opportunities in the use of this high-protein feed in feeding cattle, the section providing 26% of gross agricultural production. In cattle feeding, soybean seeds are utilized as whole, cracked, roasted, and extruded full-fat seed; after oil pressing as cold press cakes and extruded oil cakes; and moreover, late-ripening soybean plants with late maturity are used as fodder plants. The presented review is based on literature and analysis of data on the use of each of these forms in cattle nutrition, including the limitation of their use as components of feed rations, which is caused by the high rate of nitrogen release in the rumen and the effects of fat and saponin on microbial fermentation in the rumen due to the role of endogenous seminal enzymes.
The nutritive value of evening primrose (Oenothera paradoxa) oil cake was estimated from chemical composition and nutrient digestibility. The cake contained on average (per kg): 210 g crude protein, 0.55 UFL, 0.44 UFV, 110 PDI (PDIE -PDIN = -22 g), 92 g PDIA and 100 g of ether extract. The proportion of methionine and cystine in cake was relatively high (1.97 and 2.17 g/16 g N) but that of lysine was rather low (2.00 g/16 g N). Linoleic (C 18 . 2n6 ) -73.1%, y-linolenic (C 18 . 3n6 ) -9,0% and oleic (C 181 n9 ) -6.4% acids dominated in total fatty acid content. Rumen degradability and intestinal digestion coefficients of protein of evening primrose oil cake or seeds were 0.39 and 0.65, respectively.
Fifty-four Black-and-White bull calves divided into 5 groups of 10-11 animals aged from 6-8 to 120 days, were used to study the effect of liquid feeding frequency and the amount of milk replacer on concentrate intake and rearing performance. The milk replacer contained: dried skim milk, whey, buttermilk, and processed soya protein. The liquid feed was fed from 7 to 56 days of age once (S), twice (D) or three (T) times a day at limited feeding (L and L 1/2), or feeding to appetite (V). The intake of milk replacer per calf in the experimental period was: 54 kg (groups SL, DL, TL), 27 kg (group SL 1/2) or 87 kg of dried milk replacer (group TV). In groups SL, DL, TL, SL 1/2 and TV, the liquid feed contained 155.5 g of solid milk replacer per kg of solution, and in group SV, 262 g of milk replacer per kg solution. All of the calves received concentrate to appetite and meadow hay (0.1-0.3 kg/day). It was found that at a similar intake of milk replacer (51 kg DM/calf), and once-daily liquid feeding compared with feeding twice and three times a day, daily weight gains were lower during the liquid feeding period, decreasing by 23% (594 g/day) despite an approximately 20% higher intake of concentrate. For the whole experimental period, these differences were insignificant at 7 and 4%, respectively. Calves of group SL 1/2 consumed a similar amount of concentrate and achieved similar weight gains as those from group SL, which received twice as much milk replacer. In the other groups, calves consumed less concentrate but had higher daily liveweight gains. Feeding liquid feed (83 kg DM/calf) to appetite did not significantly affect daily concentrate intake and weight gains of calves in group TV compared with groups DL and TL, both during the liquid feeding period (838, 754 and 788 g/day, respectively) and during the whole experimental period (1080, 1026 and 1065 g/day, respectively). In all the groups after weaning, compensatory growth 414 LEVEL AND FREQUENCY OF FEEDING ON CALF PERFORMANCE resulted in high daily weight gains of calves above 1200 g/day (P>0.05). The highest compensatory growth was found in groups SL and SL [/2 .
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