Effects of diets of differing fiber contents on digestibility, passage rate of digesta and heat production in lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus)

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe effects of different levels of dietary fiber on feed intake, digestibility, mean retention times of solute and particle and heat production were studied in twelve male lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus). The animals were randomly assigned into four groups of three mouse deer each and fed on individual basis. Four diets, namely A, B, C and D were prepared in pellet forms. Each diet contained ∼14% crude protein and ∼18 kJ/g gross energy. The crude fiber contents of diet A, B, C and D were 4.2, 11.3, 16.8 and 22.5%, respectively. The results showed that the crude fiber intake of mouse deer was 1.4 ± 0.04, 3.8 ± 0.4, 5.8 ± 0.7 and 6.0 ± 0.6 g/kg W 0.75 /d fed diet A, B, C and D, respectively. Mouse deer fed diet D had significantly lower DM intake than those fed lower levels of fiber. The digestibility values of DM decreased gradually with increasing levels of fiber in the diet. The mean retention times (MRTs) of particles (∼1.5 mm) in the reticulorumen were in the range of (19.0-22.9 h), with the shortest time for mouse deer fed diet D. However mouse deer fed diet C and D showed significant shorter solute MRT in the reticulorumen (17.1-18.5 h) when compared to mouse deer fed lower fiber diets (21.4-21.9 h). The selectivity factor in the reticulorumen was in the range of 1.04-1.18, indicating the mouse deer to be a 'moose-type' ruminant. Fiber levels had no significant effect on water intake of mouse deer. Heat production tended to decrease with increasing levels of fiber (448.3-435.7 kJ/kg W 0.75 /d) but differences among the mouse deer fed the four diets were not significant.

Digesta retention patterns of solute and different-sized particles in camelids compared with ruminants and other foregut fermenters

“…Considering only ruminants, the 'moose-type' strategy is prominent in basal groups such as the tragulids or giraffids (Clauss and Lechner-Doll 2001;Hummel et al 2005;Darlis et al 2012) and could, therefore, appear as the basal physiological strategy of the ruminant suborder. However, the high SF 2mm/solute FS in the more distantly related camelids could allow the interpretation that a higher degree of digesta washing as in 'cattle-type' ruminants represents the basal situation, and that the 'moose-type' strategy may be a more derived state.…”

Old World Ruminant Morphophysiology, Life History, and Fossil Record: Exploring Key Innovations of a Diversification Sequence

“…However, it could be shown that the efficiency of the sorting mechanism does not differ in a relevant way between 'moose-type' ruminants with a low, and 'cattle-type' ruminants with a high, fluid throughput (Lechner et al 2010). Correspondingly, tragulids, whose fluid passage pattern in the forestomach matches that of 'moose-type' ruminants (Darlis et al 2012), do not stand out among ruminants in terms of faecal particle size reduction (Clauss et al 2002). But, the important additional advantage of a high fluid throughput through the forestomach could lie in the additional harvest of microbes that are washed out at a high rate , Clauss et al 2010a, Müller et al 2011b.…”