Impact of Inulin on Calves’ Growth and Possible Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emission

Abstract

To reduce greenhouse gas emission (GGE) researchers propose to shorten the period of breeding calves of dairy breeds (Mirzaei-Aghsaghali et al., 2015, Fao, 2010. However, producers try to prolong the time of rising animals in order to get more valuable production. The aim of this research was to determine the impact of different dosages of inulin concentrate (50%) produced in Latvia by using special technologies on calves' health, amount of obtained production and to evaluate possible reduction of GGE. Research has been supported by the National research programme AgroBioRes (2014AgroBioRes ( -2017.Four week old clinically healthy Holstein Friesian calves which were kept in barn in individual cages were included in this research. Ten were in control group (CoG) and thirty were fed with additional flour supplement (groups: Pre6 (n=10), Pre12 (n=10), Pre24 (n=10)) until the groups' median weight was above 90kg. We found out that inulin supplement reduced the cases of diarrhoea especially in Pre12 (P=95%) less than in CoG. Also, the overall health condition in Pre12 was the most stable. The best rate of live weight showed calves from Pre12 and Pre24, the desired weight was exceeded on 42 nd test day (median increase rate respectively 0.85 kg/day and 0.95 kg/day). Pre6 reached that goal on day 56 (0.76 kg/day), CoG only on 70 (0.55 kg/day). Conclusion: the optimal dose of that supplement for speeding up the growth rate is 12g which can stabilize the health and reduce breeding time. Besides shortening breeding time minimum to 3 weeks (i.e. 17%), GGE can be reduced too.

Methane mitigation possibilities and weight gain in calves fed with prebiotic inulin

“…The emitted methane was reduced by 30% (Hristov et al, 2015). In other studies, researchers reached the methane reduction by 20%, at the same time, the weight gain increased by additional 75g/day, and milk yield increased by 1l/day in dairy cattle (Bruinenberg et al, 2002;Ilgaza et al, 2016;Nkrumah et al, 2006). It means that with a significant reduction of CH 4 emission the animal productivity can be improved, but we need to find the optimal feeding recipe which would be compatible with conditions and available feed sources in Latvia, taking into account economic factors and the obtained production.…”

“…But there are fewer studies done about FOS and inulin (both are components of Jerusalem artichoke) and their impact on methane reduction in ruminants (Roonal, 2015), therefore we used inulin for our research. In the previous study by Ilgaza et al (2016), milk supplementation with inulin had very promising results regarding weight gain when animals in the experimental group reached 90kg weight 3 weeks earlier than the control group; also the live weight gain was higher in calves fed with additional supplement of inulin.…”

“…However, since the year 2005 due to the rise of economic activities in Latvia, the greenhouse gas (GHG) production in the agricultural sector shows a progressive tendency, furthermore, the agricultural sector is the second largest source of GHG, creating 20% of all GHG in the country. (Bērziņa et al, 2014) According to the collected GHG data about the situation in Latvia in the agricultural sector, the main sources of GHG are: 1) agricultural soil management nitric oxide (N 2 O); 2) ruminant enteric fermentation where methane (CH 4 ) is produced due to biological food processing and fermentative processes; 3) methane (CH 4 ) and nitric oxide (N 2 O) production from manure (Bērziņa et al, 2014;Ilgaza et al, 2016).…”

“…We consider that a shorter animal growing period can be achieved by making corrections in the animal feeding strategy and by using natural feed supplements which VETERINARY MEDICINE DOI:10.22616/rrd.23.2017.039 can promote animal interior body reserve usage. Prebiotics can increase daily weight gain in calves and are used along with nitrate, probiotics, and yeasts and have a potential to reduce methane production (Mwenya et al, 2004;Hasunuma et al, 2011;Ilgaza et al, 2016). Such prebiotics as fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), inulin and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) can be used to reduce methane production in ruminants (Zhou et al, 2004;Charalampopoulos & Rastall, 2009).…”

Impact of inulin on production of methane, carbon dioxide and gastrointestinal canal functionality in calves

“…Feed additives have the potential to improve nutrient utilization in farm animals by modifying ruminal microbial population and, consequently, ruminal fermentation and digestion (McGuffey, Richardson, & Wilkinson, 2001). Many researchers have found that prebiotics can increase the daily weight gain in calves and have potential to reduce CH 4 production (Mwenya et al, 2004;Hasunuma et al, 2011;Ilgaza et al, 2016).…”