RESEARCH ARTICLE

Research on Y. schidigera extract feeding on the rumen ecology, protozoal populations and serum chemistries of sheep

  • Chunlong LIU 1,2 ,
  • Zhongqiu LI , 3 ,
  • Fugang PENG 3 ,
  • Yanming REN 4 ,
  • Zhuolong WANG 5
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  • 1. Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Black Soil Ecology,Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150081, China
  • 2. Animal Nutrition Institute, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
  • 3. The Department of Animal Science Research ofHeilongjiang Provincial Agricultural Scientific Academy, Harbin 150086, China
  • 4. Heilongjiang Institute of Veterinary Drug and Feed Supervisal,Harbin 150009, China
  • 5. The Station of Animal Quarantine of Mudanjiang City,Mudanjiang 157009, China

Received date: 31 Jul 2008

Accepted date: 18 Sep 2008

Published date: 05 Mar 2009

Copyright

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Abstract

In a completely randomized block design experiment, 16 ruminally cannulated male sheep with body weights of (40 ± 2.1) kg were fed twice daily (8:00 and 16:00) with concentrate and forage (50:50 on dry matter (DM) basis). Dietary treatments were supplemented with intraruminal doses of powdered Yucca schidigera extract (YSE) at the levels of 0 (control), 100, 200 and 300 mg∙kg-1. On days of 15, 16 and 17 after feeding, ruminal content was sampled at 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 h after dosing (8:00), and blood samples were collected at the end of experiment (the days 18 and 19 after feeding). Results showed that the treatment groups’ acidity was not affected (P = 0.13) by YSE. Comparing to the control, the ruminal propionate concentration was increased by YSE addition in a dose-dependent manner by up to 29.8% (P< 0.05), and the acetic concentration was decreased by up to 17.5% (P< 0.05). The ruminal ammonia concentration 2 hours after feeding was higher (P< 0.05) in sheep fed without YSE (increased by 17.57 mg∙100 mL-1) than those fed with YSE at 200 mg∙kg-1 (6.77 mg∙100 mL-1increase in NH3) and at 300 mg∙kg-1 (6.50 mg∙100 mL-1 increase in NH3). Protozoal populations in the rumen were lower (P< 0.05) with the YSE feeding dose at 300 mg∙kg-1 than the control. The serum chemistries were not different among treatments (P > 0.05) and were within the normal physiological ranges for sheep 19 days after feeding. The study indicated that 200 mg∙kg-1 and 300 mg∙kg-1 YSE groups had particular suppressing effects on ruminal ammonia concentration, ammonia-N concentrations and protozoal populations. The effect of YSE on ruminal fermentation could be attributed to the selective inhibitory effect on rumen microbial species. High level (300 mg∙kg-1) YSE as feed additives resulted no negative impact on sheep in our tests.

Cite this article

Chunlong LIU , Zhongqiu LI , Fugang PENG , Yanming REN , Zhuolong WANG . Research on Y. schidigera extract feeding on the rumen ecology, protozoal populations and serum chemistries of sheep[J]. Frontiers of Agriculture in China, 2009 , 3(1) : 89 -94 . DOI: 10.1007/s11703-009-0011-4

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