Effects of Lactobacillus plantarum and fibrolytic enzyme on the fermentation quality and in vitro digestibility of total mixed rations silage including rape straw

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of a lactic acid bacteria inoculant（Lactobacillus plantarum, LP）, fibrolytic enzyme（EN）, combination of LP and EN（LP＋EN） on fermentation quality, nutritive characteristics and in vitro digestibility of total mixed ration（TMR） silages containing 0, 7.5 and 15.0%（on dry matter basis） of rape（Brassica campestris L.） straw（RS）（denoted as CTMR, LTMR and MTMR, respectively）. After ensiling for 60 days, TMR silages without additives were well preserved, but MTMR had higher p H than CTMR and LTMR. There were no differences in other parameters of fermentation quality, microbial composition, nutrition and in vitro digestibility between CTMR and LTMR except for yeast and mold number and crude protein（CP） content. CTMR and LTMR silage had higher CP content, in vitro neutral detergent fiber digestibility（IVNDFD） and in vitro acid detergent fiber digestibility（IVADFD）, lower acid detergent fiber（ADF） content than MTMR silage. LP and EN decreased p H and increased dry matter（DM） recovery of TMR silages. LP＋EN improved the fermentation quality, nutritive characteristics and in vitro digestibility of TMR silages, showed by lower p H, ADF content, higher lactic acid content, in vitro dry matter digestibility（IVDMD） and IVNDFD. Therefore, It was suggested that TMR silage contained 7.5% RS on a DM basis and treated with LP＋EN can be as a useful feed for ruminant.

Analysis of Mixing Principle and Optimization of Parameter on the Single-shaft Horizontal Total Mixed Ration Mixer

The main structure and working principle of the single-shaft horizontal total mixed ration mixer was discussed. For studying the mixing principle, the analysis of force and motion of the material on the paddle were made, and paddle angle and rotational speed of the rotor were determined by the experiment, the main mixing ways were explained.

Analysis of Nutrition of Total Mixed Ration for Dairy Cows on a Large-scale Ranch of Heilongjiang Reclamation Area

With the rapid development of China's dairy industry,the yield and scale of dairy cows have gradually increased,and the total mixed ration(TMR)technology has been widely applied in pastures.The seven large-scale pastures in the Heilongjiang reclamation area were selected.The area was divided into high milk yield pastures(A,E,F and G)and low milk yield pastures(B,C and D).The nutritional contents of TMR of the seven pastures were compared with NRC(2001)recommendations.The results showed that in the high milk yield pastures,the crude protein(CP)contents were closer to NRC recommendations(2001)than those of the low milk yield pastures,and the contents of ether extract(EE)were significantly higher(P<0.05).The contents of acid detergent fiber(ADF)in TMR of all the scale pastures were close to those recommended by NRC(2001),where as the contents of neutral detergent fiber(NDF)were significantly higher than the NRC(2001)recommendations.After measuring the dry matter(DM)rumen degradation rates,CP,NDF and ADF of TMR of dairy cows on the ranch were assessed using the nylon bag method,CP contents of the high milk yield pastures were significantly higher(P<0.05)compared with those of the low milk yield pastures,and the rumen degradable protein(RDP)to rumen undegradable protein(RUP)ratio was more ideal.The diets in the high milk yield pastures had significantly higher NDF contents and degradation rates than those in the low milk yield pastures,except pasture D(P<0.05).The diets in pastures E and G(with higher milk yields)had higher ADF degradation rates than pastures B,C and D,which had lower milk yields(P<0.05).Additionally,the type and digestibility of roughage were also related to dairy cows'performance.In summary,dairy cow performance was positively correlated with the nutrition of TMR.By exploring the quality of TMR from the aspects of TMR's nutritional contents,rumen degradation rates and feed ingredients,this study provided a reference for the evaluation of TMR nutrition.

Effects of Dietary Supplement of Fermented Tomato Pomace on Dry Matter Intake and Nutrient Apparent Digestibility of Dairy Cows

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of replacing corn silage with ensiled tomato pomace on dry matter intake and apparent digestibility of diets.Eight close up dry Holstein cows were used in 2 × 2 Latin square design.The animals were fed control(0% tomato pomace silage) and experimental(10% corn silage replaced by tomato pomace silage) diets.The result showed that dry matter intake in experimental group was 9.77 ± 0.44 kg/d,which was significantly higher than in control group(p < 0.05).Dry matter digestibility in experimental and control group was 73.9% and 70.2%,respectively,but there was no difference between two groups(p > 0.05).The substitution of tomato pomace silage in diet was associated with an increase of dry matter intake,dietary supplement of ensiled tomato pomace without any adverse effect on their health performance.

Utilization of tea grounds as feedstuff for ruminant

Researches on tea have been developed for decades, which prove that tea, especially green tea, has multiple functional components. With the rapid development of beverage industry, the resultant large amounts of tea grounds attract great attention. However, unreasonable utilization of tea grounds would lead to great waste and environmental pollution, especially in summer. In view of the high nutritive value and multiple functional components, tea grounds could be used as feedstuff. By now, researches of tea grounds as feedstuff are mainly on ruminant, as the utilization on other animals is limited to lower level due to high fiber content. Therefore, the following review will begin with a brief introduction of tea grounds and the possible utilization of tea grounds as feedstuff, and then elaborate on the application of ensiling and total mixed ration on ruminant. Apart from the fermentation quality, nutritive value is also provided to assess feasibilities of using tea grounds as feedstuff resources. Finally, a summary on the utilization situation and future direction of using tea grounds as feedstuff is provided in this review.

Feed Form Affects Growth and Stomach Ulcers in Yearling Horses

Fourteen yearling standardbred horses were used to test the hypothesis that hay and grain fed as a complete total mixed ration （TMR） cube diet （C） would result in greater average daily gain （ADG）, feed efficiency （gain to feed ratio, G/F） and apparent digestibility in horses on the TMR diet compared to horses fed the same weight and proportion of hay cubes and grain fed separately （diet HG）. Both diets consisted of 75% forage and 25% ground oats. The forage in both the plain hay cubes and the complete cubes was 80% alfalfa and 20% endophyte-free tall rescue. An additional hypothesis that stomach ulceration would not differ between horses fed either of the two diet treatments was also tested by comparing upper gastric endoscopies before and after 70 days of feeding the experimental diets. Horses fed diet C had greater ADG （P 〈 0.046） while G/F between the two treatments was not significantly different （P 〉 0.065） but showed a trend to be higher in the horses consuming diet C. Apparent digestibility of dry matter and crude protein was not different between the diet treatments, and no major gastric ulceration was found in horses consuming either diet treatment. The results of this study found that a complete cubed diet of 75% hay and 25% oats did not cause stomach ulceration while achieving an acceptable growth rate in yearling horses.

Design and parameter optimization of spiral-dragon type straw chopping test rig

In order to address the problems of large chop length,high energy consumption and poor chopping effect that were associated with a horizontal total mixed rations(TMR)mixer,a straw chopping device was designed;further,its structure and working principle were analyzed.In this study,wheat straw was chosen as the test object.The number of processing times,number of fixed blades,cutting speed,number of tooth plates and the inclined angle of the box were considered as the test factors.The standard straw length rate and average power were used as evaluation indices for conducting the orthogonal rotation combination experiment with five factors and five levels of quadratic regression.The experimental results denoted that the order of influencing factors on the standard straw length rate can be given as follows:the number of processing times,number of fixed blades,cutting speed,number of tooth plates and inclined angle of the box.The order of the influence of each factor on the average power can be given as follows:the cutting speed,number of fixed blades and number of tooth plates.Further,the optimum structural and working parameters of the device can be determined as follows:linear cutting speed of 17-20 m/min,box inclined angle of 70°-80°,20-23 fixed blades,5-6 processing times and 4-7 tooth plates.Under such a circumstance,the standard straw length rate reached up to 70.5%-77.4%and the average power was low at 5.8-7 kW.The results can be used as reference for designing a chopping device for a TMR mixer.