The California apparatus for respiration trials with large animals

Kleiber, Max

doi:10.3733/hilg.v09n01p001

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In order to create a comfortable environment within the chamber, air conditioning, dehumidification, feeders, waterers, and a method by which feces and urine can be removed are necessary. Descriptions of various types and designs of whole animal chamber systems are found throughout the literature (Flatt et al, 1958;Kleiber, 1958a;McLean and Tobin, 1987;Cammell et al, 1980;Johnson, 1986;Miller and Koes, 1988). Major advantages to the use of whole animal chambers include the ability to make accurate measurements of emissions from cattle including methane from ruminal and hindgut fermentation.…”

Section: Individual Animal Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane emissions from cattle

Johnson

1995

Journal of Animal Science

2,067

1,526

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Increasing atmospheric concentrations of methane have led scientists to examine its sources of origin. Ruminant livestock can produce 250 to 500 L of methane per day. This level of production results in estimates of the contribution by cattle to global warming that may occur in the next 50 to 100 yr to be a little less than 2%. Many factors influence methane emissions from cattle and include the following: level of feed intake, type of carbohydrate in the diet, feed processing, addition of lipids or ionophores to the diet, and alterations in the ruminal microflora. Manipulation of these factors can reduce methane emissions from cattle. Many techniques exist to quantify methane emissions from individual or groups of animals. Enclosure techniques are precise but require trained animals and may limit animal movement. Isotopic and nonisotopic tracer techniques may also be used effectively. Prediction equations based on fermentation balance or feed characteristics have been used to estimate methane production. These equations are useful, but the assumptions and conditions that must be met for each equation limit their ability to accurately predict methane production. Methane production from groups of animals can be measured by mass balance, micrometeorological, or tracer methods. These techniques can measure methane emissions from animals in either indoor or outdoor enclosures. Use of these techniques and knowledge of the factors that impact methane production can result in the development of mitigation strategies to reduce methane losses by cattle. Implementation of these strategies should result in enhanced animal productivity and decreased contributions by cattle to the atmospheric methane budget.

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Section: Individual Animal Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane emissions from cattle

Johnson

1995

Journal of Animal Science

2,067

1,526

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“…Even with smaller flow rates, our experience with both wet and dry gas meters is that such accuracy can only be achieved through constant recalibration of the meters at short intervals [Brockway, Boyne and Gordon, 1971]. The alternative methods of measuring flow of using mercury pumps [M0llgaard, 1929; Nehring, Schieman, Hoffmann and Schmidt, 1958] or large water pipettes [Kleiber, 1958] while achieving the necessary accuracy are extremely expensive to build and to maintain.The solution to this problem which we have adopted is to dispense entirely with measurements of gas flow, and to measure the changes in gas concentrations 60 …”

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confidence: 99%

A New Method for Estimating the Heat Production of Animals

Blaxter¹,

Brockway²,

Boyne³

1972

Exp Physiol

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A new type of respiration chamber is described which avoids the need for absorption of carbon dioxide or for the measurement of large gas flow rates. The system is an extension of the 'confinement' principle for the measurement of respiratory gas exchange. The chambers are large enough to accommodate an adult cattle beast, but sufficiently flexible in operation to be used with individual sheep. Operation of the system is fully automatic, and information is recorded on the paper tape output from data logging equipment. The day-to-day variation in heat production by pairs of sheep kept in one chamber for periods of from 3 to 5 days was assessed; the coefficient of variation for heat production was 3 per cent. The work to be described arose from problems encountered in the design of respiration apparatus to determine the 24 hr exchange of energy of milking cows. A milking cow may produce nearly 100 MJ of heat, consume 4,0001.02 and produce 4,000 1.002 and 400 l.CH4 in 24 hr. Methods which have hitherto been used to determine these large quantities of gas have been reviewed by Flatt [1969] and are of two types, closed circuit methods and open circuit methods. A closed circuit apparatus for cattle was built by Wainman and Blaxter [1958] and proved successful in operation, but the cost of absorbents for water vapour and carbon dioxide in such systems are so high as to be prohibitive at the present time. Furthermore, closed circuit apparatus does not lend itself to automation and hence economy in operational cost. Open circuit methods involve the accurate measurement of a stream of air passing through the equipment and either continuous measurement of gas concentrations in this continuously recorded stream, or the accumulation of a sample proportional to the flow of air and the analysis of this sample. For a highly productive cow this entails the accurate measurement of flows of air of varying humidity, pressure and temperature of the order of 500-600 1./min, with systems of sampling the air in proportion to its flow. Considerable difficulty has been encountered by others in achieving an accuracy of measurement of such large flows better than the ±0-5 per cent which we regard as permissible. Even with smaller flow rates, our experience with both wet and dry gas meters is that such accuracy can only be achieved through constant recalibration of the meters at short intervals [Brockway, Boyne and Gordon, 1971]. The alternative methods of measuring flow of using mercury pumps [M0llgaard, 1929; Nehring, Schieman, Hoffmann and Schmidt, 1958] or large water pipettes [Kleiber, 1958] while achieving the necessary accuracy are extremely expensive to build and to maintain.The solution to this problem which we have adopted is to dispense entirely with measurements of gas flow, and to measure the changes in gas concentrations 60

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“…I had a chance later, however, to get the help of a farmer who in his youth had worked as a gunsmith. After two and a half years the apparatus worked (24). We could burn up three liters of alcohol a day and get the proper result within less than 2 per cent error but the ma' chine made an awful racket.…”

Section: The California Respiration Apparatus For Cows (Amateur Enginmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prefatory Chapter: An Old Professor of Animal Husbandry Ruminates

Kleiber¹

1967

Annu. Rev. Physiol.

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When an old professor indulges in reminiscences some of his listeners may fear that he has reached the stage of rumination, and has therefore started to waste their time by rechewing old stuff. But a cow who indulges in chewing the cud assists her microbial co-workers by making material digestible which otherwise would be useless. I hope the readers of this preface will look at this more positive aspect of rumination and will bear in a friendly mood the frequent "I" and the seriousness with which I take myself and my cud. EFFICIENCY OF ENERGY UTILIZATION AND BODY SIZEIn the third volume of the Annual Review of Biochemistry (1934), Samuel Brody (I) discussed a German paper of mine on animal size and feed utilization [Tiergrosse und Futterverwertung, 1933 (2)] in which I deduced that the total efficiency (gain/food) of two animals is equal when, with equal partial efficiency (change in gain/change in food intake ) , their relative food intake (food intake/basal metabolic rate, or food intake per unit of the � power of body weight) is equal. Since empirical data indi cated that neither partial efficiency nor relative food capacity (maximum food intake per unit of the % power of body weight ) is correlated with body size, I concluded that in general the total efficiency of animal energy utilization is independent o f body size.J. In the fourth volume of the Annual Review of Biochemistry, Brody (4) extended the discussion of body size and efficiency of energy utilization. At his request I sent him a copy of a paper which I had submitted to the Jour nal of Nutrition. It was mainly a critique of the Palmer-Kennedy efficiency quotient (5) (food consumed/gain in weight times weight), which obvious ly makes the efficiency (the reciprocal of the Palmer-Kennedy quotient) proportional to body weight, an assumption that makes no sense.The Journal of Nutrition did not publish the article; my critique ap- To find out how the Lilliputians calculated Gulliver's food requirement we can formulate for Gulliver (G) and Lilliputian (L) as folows:log 17600 log . welght (L)The Lilliputians calculated the food requirement as proportional to the % power of body weight. This anticipates the results of Kleiber of 1932 (8), p = %, and those of Brody of a few months later in 1932 (9), namely p = 0.734, by at least 233 years since the Lilliputians applied this calcula tion at the time Lilliput was discovered, A.D. 1699.If the Lilliputians in their remarkable anticipation of the "man moun tain's" knowledge concerning body size metabolism and food requirement had stopped at A.D. 1839 when Sarrus & Rameaux (10) proclaimed the surface law of animal metabolic rate or even as late as 1883 when Rubner (11) or 1889 when Richet (12) rediscovered this law empirically and inde pendently, they would have fed Gulliver only the equivalent of 675 Lillipu tian rations since the square of the length ratio, 262, is 675. IDEA AND ACTIONTwo souls, alas! reside within my breast.Goethe, Faust, Part I, Scene 2:Ulrich von Hutten con fesseu, "I am not a fi nely planne...

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The California apparatus for respiration trials with large animals

Cited by 16 publications

References 9 publications

Methane emissions from cattle

Methane emissions from cattle

A New Method for Estimating the Heat Production of Animals

Prefatory Chapter: An Old Professor of Animal Husbandry Ruminates

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