Effects of extruded diet on the productive performance of weaning and post-weaned calves

Effects of cereals and/or protein supplement extrusion on diet utilisation and performance of intensively reared cattle

“…In that study, an improvement in the diet conversion ratio was found when the mixture was extruded, without having found differences in the DM, N or energy apparent digestibility. The improvement in the feed conversion ratio with the heat treatment of total concentrate (Serrano et al, 1998;Solanas et al, 2005b) or just the cereal has been previously observed by others (Owens et al, 1997). The response in present work was not related to a higher microbial protein reaching the duodenum, considering that total urine allantoin excretion was lower in treatments CE and particularly CPE compared with NE.…”

“…The extrusion of the concentrate has been shown to also have some positive results in intensive beef production, particularly in young animals when protein requirements are higher and starch digestion may be compromised (Serrano et al, 1998;Solanas et al, 2005b). However, the causes of this positive response are not well identified and the magnitude of the effect does not likely justify the cost of extruding the whole compound feed meal.…”

Effect of extruding the cereal and/or the legume protein supplement of a compound feed on in vitro ruminal nutrient digestion and nitrogen metabolism

“…The extrusion of concentrate has been shown to have some positive results in beef production, mainly in young animals (Serrano et al., 1998; Solanas et al., 2004). This effect would be related to different physicochemical modifications that extrusion produces in nutrients, affecting both carbohydrate and protein digestion.…”