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Choline is an essential nutrient for animals, but dietary choline is degraded in the rumen, and thus, should be offered as rumen-protected choline (RPC) in ruminants. In this article, we investigate the effect of RPC supplementation in feedlot lambs. Forty intact male Saint Croix lambs (average: 20.3 kg, 3–4 months of age) on a high grain-low roughage base feed were randomly assigned to four treatments (0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3% RPC on dry-matter basis; n = 10 per group). RPC was offered for 90 days after 15 days of adaptation. RPC supplementation was not associated with significant differences in dry matter intake, weight gain, gain:feed ratio, carcass weights, and the dressing percentages. There was a linear decrease in height to the shoulder (p = 0.013) and longissimus muscle area (p = 0.051) with higher RPC levels, and a higher backfat thickness and yield grade with 0.3% RPC compared to 0.1% RPC (p < 0.05). Blood triglycerides concentrations were higher in control (0% RPC) compared to 0.3% RPC (p = 0.008). The lack of significant effects on growth performance and the results on backfat thickness and yield grade, may indicate undesirable effects associated with RPC supplementation. More research is needed to establish the needs and specific quantities of RPC supplementation in feedlot lambs.

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Probiotics are used as alternative in diets. Probiotics, as defined by many authors, are food additives consisting of living microorganisms that have beneficial effects on the physiology and health of organisms. Microorganisms are most commonly used by lactic acid bacteria which are part of the biopreparations, for poultry animals in improving their health and production parameters. The objective of this work is to determine the effect of different doses of probiotics on broiler Ross 308 in terms of improving its production and digestive tract development. The study evaluated the addition of different doses of probiotics offered orally in relation to weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion in broilers. Comparison was also made in development of gastrointestinal tract, based on villi level of intestinal walls. In feed intake, differences were not significant (P >0.05). Daily weight gain of treatments with higher level of probiotic was higher (P < 0.05). However, in feed conversion, despite being excellent, treatments were not different (P > 0.05). Measurements of intestinal villi in duodenum were not different (P > 0.05). In jejunum and ileum, villi length and extent of muscle layer in treatment three were different compared to other treatments (P <0.05). It was concluded that 1.5 ml of probiotics supplement improves body weight gain and measurement of the villi and muscle layer of jejunum and ileum.

The objective of this research was to determine the effect of adding compost on nutritive valueof cactus cladodes during the four seasons of the year. The production, chemical composition,and in vitro digestibility of a cactus variety with spines (WS) and a cactus variety without spines(WOS), were subjected to a complete block design with three quantities of compost (0, 61 and122 t ha-1) and four seasons (summer, fall, and winter 2013 and spring 2014). The WS varietyproduced more dry matter (DM) (p=0.035) and crude protein (CP) (p=0.037) than the WOSvariety. Although CP, fiber constituents, and mineral composition of cactus varied (p<0.001)with respect to season of the year, in vitro DM digestibility did not differ (p=0.29) acrossseasons. Both cactus varieties had high ash (29.0 to 29.2%) and moisture (89.5 to 91.7%)contents. Adding compost to the soil improved (p<0.001) the average DM production of bothcactus varieties. Compost addition also increased the lignin (p=0.008), phosphorus (p<0.001)and zinc (p=0.025) concentrations and reduced (p=0.04) the in vitro DM digestibility. The highash and moisture contents of cactus could reduce the densities of energy and other nutrientsthat are consumed by livestock.