Effect of Microbial Additives on Metabolic Characteristics in Sheep and Milking Performance of Lactating Dairy Cows

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to observe the effects of direct fed microbials on metabolic characteristics in sheep and milking performance in dairy cows. A metabolic trial with four ruminally cannulated sheep (60±6kg) was conducted in a 4×4 Latin square design to investigate the supplementation effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Clostridium butyricum or mixed microbes of S. cerevisiae and C. butyricum on ruminal fermentation characteristics and whole tract digestibility. Sheep were fed 1.25 kg of total mixed ration (TMR, DM basis) supplemented with S. cerevisiae (2.5g/day), C. butyricum (1.0g/day) or its mixture (S. cerevisiae 1.25 g/day + C. butyricum 1 g/day), twice daily in an equal volume. But control sheep were fed only TMR. A feeding trial with 28 lactating Holstein cattle was also conducted for 12 weeks to investigate the effects of the same microbial supplements as for the metabolic trial on milking performance. The cows were fed the TMR (control), and fed S. cerevisiae (50 g/day), C. butyricum (15 g/day) or its mixture (S. cerevisiae 25 g/day + C. butyricum 7.5 g/day) with upper layer dressing method.Total VFA concentration and the digestibility of whole digestive tract in the sheep increased by supplementation of S. cerevisiae, C. butyricum or their combined microbials compare to control group. The proportion of propionic acid at 1 h (P<0.039) and 3 h (P<0.022) decreased by supplementation of S. cerevisiae while tended to increase acetic acid proportion at the same times.Daily dry matter intake (DMI) was not influenced by the microbial treatments, but milk yield (P<0.031) and feed efficiency (milk yield/DMI, P<0.043) were higher for the cow received C. butyricum than those for other treatments. The milk fat content was higher (P<0.085) when cows fed S. cerevisiae (4.11%) than that fed the control (4.08%), the diets with C. butyricum (3.85%) and the microbial mixture.Based on the results obtained from the current experiments, supplementation of C. butyricum or mixture with S. cerevisiae might be increased milk fat content and milk productivity of lactating daily cows.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation With Clostridium butyricum on the Amelioration of Growth Performance, Rumen Fermentation, and Rumen Microbiota of Holstein Heifers

“…The increase in the number of beneficial bacteria in the feces, improvement of intestinal histology, and the enhancement of intestinal digestive enzyme activity may all be associated to the potential of C. butyricum HJCB998 to enhance the intestinal absorption capacity of animals, thereby improving growth performance (3). Studies for monogastric (11,24) and ruminant (6,14) have confirmed the positive effects of C. butyricum on the production performance and total tract apparent digestibility. Therefore, although apparent digestibility was not measured in this study, the positive effect of C. butyricum LXKJ-1 on growth performance can be inferred from the increasing in ADG and DMI of dairy heifers.…”

“…We found that total VFAs concentration in the rumen is affected by time, which may be related to the increase in DMI with the extension of the experimental period. It has been previously reported that feeding C. butyricum to dairy cows affected the production of VFAs in the rumen ( 14 ); moreover, previous experiments have suggested that microbial feed additives can affect rumen VFA production by adjusting the number of rumen microbes ( 26 , 29 ). In this experiment, supplementation with C. butyricum LXKJ-1 significantly increased the number of several major cellulolytic bacteria and amylolytic bacteria and had a greater impact on the relative abundance of two amylolytic bacteria S .…”

“…Therefore, we envisage that C. butyricum will have a similar positive effect on heifers fed high-fiber diets. Research on C. butyricum in dairy cows has focused mainly on immune regulation, milk composition improvement and milk production ( 13 , 14 ); however, there are few studies on growth and development indicators for growth stages, such as in calves and heifers. Studies have shown that microbial feed additives such as yeast can improve the productive performance of ruminants by improving the activity and growth rate of rumen microorganisms ( 15 ).…”