Dietary supplementation of yeast cell wall improves the gastrointestinal development of weaned calves

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of yeast cell wall(YCW)on the gastrointestinal development of weaned calves.Twenty healthy Holstein male calves(BW=92±8.29 kg and 60±5 d of age)were randomly allocated into 2 groups:CON with no YCW,and YCW(accounted for0.16%of the basal diet).The dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratio was 40:60.All the calves were fed regularly twice a day at 09:00 and 16:00 and had free access to water.The experiment lasted for 60 d.The results showed that calves fed YCW showed higher(P<0.05)length,width,and surface area of papillae in the ventral sac of the rumen as compared to CON.For the dorsal sac of the rumen,the muscularis thickness was thicker(P<0.05)in the YCW group when compared with CON group.The villus height of YCW calves was higher(P<0.05)than that of CON in the ileum.Calves supplemented with YCW also showed a higher(P<0.05)villus height-to-crypt depth ratio in the ileum.The YCW calves exhibited a greater(P<0.05)thickness of the wall in the duodenum and jejunum.Calves supplemented with YCW improved(P<0.05)the claudin 1 mRNA expression in the ileum and occludin mRNA expression in the jejunum and ileum.The YCW increased(P<0.05)the contents of secretory immunoglobulin A in the jejunum and ileum of calves.In conclusion,dietary supplementation with YCW could improve the gastrointestinal development of weaned calves.

Active dry yeast supplementation improves the growth performance,rumen fermentation, and immune response of weaned beef calves

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the potential benefits of active dry yeast(ADY)on the growth performance,rumen fermentation,nutrient digestibility,and serum parameters of weaned beef calves.Thirty Simmental crossbred male calves(body weight=86.47±4.41 kg and 70±4 d of age)were randomly divided into 2 groups:control(CON)(fed basal ration)and ADY(fed basal ration and 5 g/d ADY per calf).The dietary concentrate-to-roughage ratio was 35:65.All the calves were regularly provided rations 3 times a day at 07:00,13:00,and 19:00 and had free access to wate r.The experiment lasted for 60 d.The average daily gain of ADY group was higher(P=0.007)than that of the CON group,and the ratio of feed intake to average daily gain in the ADY group was reduced(P=0.022)as compared to the CON group.The concentration of ruminal ammonia-N was higher(P=0.023)in the CON group than that in the ADY group,but an opposite trend of microbial protein was found between the 2 groups.Also,the ruminal concentrations of propionate and butyrate were higher(P<0.05)in the ADY group than those in the CON group.Calves fed ADY exhibited higher(P<0.05)crude protein and neutral detergent fiber digestibility.Supplementation of ADY increased(P<0.05)the contents of glucose,glutathione peroxidase,superoxide dismutase,immunoglobulin A,immunoglobulin M,and interleukin 10 in the serum of calves,but an opposite trend was observed in malondialdehyde,interleukin 1 beta,and tumor necrosis factor alpha contents between the 2 groups.In conclusion,dietary supplementation with ADY could improve the growth performance,rumen fermentation,nutrient digestibility,antioxidant ability,and immune response of weaned beef calves.