Composition and volume of the rumen microbiota of sheep fed on grass silage with different sucrose, starch and cellulose supplements

Abstract

A comparative study was made of the effect of different sucrose, starch and cellulose supplements and the effect of different silage preservatives on the quality and quantity of the rumen microbiota of sheep fed on grass silage. The levels of the carbohydrate supplements were 15 % and 30 % of the dry matter of the daily rations, representing 2 1/2 and 5 g/kg animal live weight per day. The silages were prepared with three different preservatives: 1) AIV I solution (25 % formic acid and 20 % hydrochloric acid), 2) formic acid and 3) Viher solution (26 %formic acid and 70 % formalin). The total number of ciliates was highest in the animals receiving sucrose with the silage, lower in those given starch and lowest in those given cellulose. On the pure silage diet, it was between those for the starch and cellulose diets. The total number of bacteria decreased in the opposite direction on the different diets. The sucrose supplements increased the numbers of small ciliates especially and the cellulose supplements those of the bigger ciliates. The total volume of the ciliate fauna was thus highest in the animals on cellulose diets, lower in those on starch diets and lowest in those on sucrose diets. The total microbe mass constituted the following percentages of the rumen content on the different diets: only silage 4.1, 15 % sucrose 3.5, 30 % sucrose 3.5, 15 % starch 4.0, 30 % starch 4.5, 15% cellulose 4.6 and 30 % cellulose 5.2. Bacteria constituted 77—86 % of the total microbe mass on the different diets, the precentage being highest on the sucrose diets and lowest on the cellulose diets. Only small differences were found between the different silage preservatives in the effect on the rumen microbiota.

Variation in Numbers and Mass of Ciliate Protozoa in the Rumens of Sheep Fed Chaffed Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa )

“…As with bacteria, ciliate populations may be qualitatively and quantitatively different in individual animals in an otherwise apparently homogeneous group (3,6,13) and thus may contribute in different fashions to the many metabolic activities of the microbiota. Also, there have been relatively few determinations of actual masses of ciliate genera on a total rumen basis (7,8,10,11,15).…”

Compounded pelleted fibre feed and hay pellets as substitutes for hay in horse feeding

“…Månsson (1957) reported that the influence of fodder on faecal coliform was not quantitative but qualitative. Syrjälä et al (1976) found that the diet influenced the rumen microbiota of sheep both quantitatively and qualitatively. Nurmio et al (1973) found coli bacteria, faecal streptococci, lactobasilli, chlostridia, moulds and yeasts in the faeces of horses with normal digestive functions.…”

Intake and digestion of formaldehyde-treated red clover silages offered to calves either alone or with a urea supplement

“…The situation concerning a direct toxic effect of formaldehyde, when used as a silage additive, on rumen microflora is unclear. The data of Ewart (1974) support a deleterious effect of formaldehyde on rumen microflora, but little effect was observed in the study by Syrjala, Saloniemi& Laalahti (1976), and the results of Arnould et al (1978) were variable.…”

“…Such an effect could be a direct one, due to a toxic effect of formaldehyde on rumen microflora, or an indirect one, due to either a reduced supply of preformed amino acids, or a low availability of sulphur (S) within the rumen. The situation concerning a toxic effect is unresolved as studies of the rumen microflora in sheep given formaldehyde-treated silages have not shown a consistent deleterious effect of formaldehyde (Syrjala et al 1976;Arnould et al 1978). Rumen bacteria can directly assimilate dietary amino acids (Beever & Thomson, 1977), and formaldehyde could exert its adverse effect by reducing the supply, as this has been observed to inhibit bacterial growth (Salter, Daneshvar & Smith, 1979).…”