Effects of supplementation with cellooligosaccharides on growth performance of weaned calves on pasture

Abstract

We conducted two feeding experiments to evaluate the effects of cellooligosaccharide (CE) supplementation on growth performance in grazing beef calves. Calf sex and age and duration of the experimental period differed between the experiments. Experiment 1 (10 weeks) used 5.6-month-old castrated males; Experiment 2 (13 weeks) used 3.9-month-old females. Eight Japanese Black calves were assigned to either a control group (CON) or an experimental group (CE) fed CE at a rate of 10 g/day mixed with concentrate. Calves were stocked in fields in which Kentucky bluegrass was dominant. In both experiments, average daily gain tended to be greater in CE than in CON, especially in late stages of experiments, but no significant differences in body weight changes were observed. In Experiment 2, final heart girth was larger in CE than in CON calves. We monitored rumen microbial community composition in Experiment 2 and found increases in fibrolytic bacteria and methanogenic archaea in CE calves, but the overall microbial composition did not differ between the groups. Our results suggest that supplementation with CE may positively affect growth performance in weaned calves on pasture, but longer-term CE supplementation may be required to exhibit the effect.

Provision of beta‐glucan prebiotics (cellooligosaccharides and kraft pulp) to calves from pre‐ to post‐weaning period on pasture

“…We reported on the effects of a cellooligosaccharides dietary supplement derived from enzymatic digestion of plant cellulose and consisting of glucose with β‐1‐4 linkages on weaned grazing calves. Our results showed that the cellooligosaccharide supplement promoted growth in a period subsequent to the period of supplement provision (Kido et al, ). The major advantage of supplementing a calf's diet with prebiotics (dietary nondigestible oligosaccharide) is that it enhances the number of beneficial intestinal bacteria involved in carbohydrate fermentation for improving the health, performance, and intestinal biota of calves (Gaggìa, Mattarelli, & Biavati, ; Quezada‐Mendoza, Heinrichs, & Jones, ; Uyeno et al, ).…”

“…All calves were allowed for suckling in the pre‐weaning period and were fed a commercial concentrate feed (consisting of 155 g/kg of crude protein, 30 g/kg of crude fat, and 72.5% total digestible nutrients (TDN), Snow Brand Seed Co., Ltd) from 4 weeks before weaning at a daily maximum of 2,000 g. The method used for weaning of all experimental calves was abrupt separation from their mothers. In Experiment 1, the experimental groups were fed cellooligosaccharides at a rate of 10 g/day, mixed with the concentrate feed given during 20 weeks of the experiment, in accordance with the procedure applied in our previous study (Kido et al, ). In Experiment 2, kraft pulp (hardwood kraft pulp, Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd) was fed to the calves in the KRA group at a rate of 10% of the total digestible nutrition basis for replacement of the concentrate feed given during 16 weeks of the experiment.…”

Characterization of two GH5 endoglucanases from termite microbiome using synthetic metagenomics

“…Researchers have reported these oligosaccharides as potential prebiotics that could regulate intestinal bacterial composition, modify fermentative processes, and possibly improve host health (Cheng et al 2017;Jiao et al 2014;Zhao et al 2012). Due to the β-1,4-glucosidic linkage between glucose monomers, cello-oligosaccharides are resistant to host digestive enzymes and in turn serve as a substrate for intestinal microbiota (Hasunuma et al 2011;Kido et al 2016;Otsuka et al 2004). The endo-β-1,4-glucanases characterized in this work could be used in the development of value-added products.…”