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Effects of ammoniated rice straw feeding on microbes and their fermentation end-products in the rumen and caecum of sheep |
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I. K. O. Cann, Y. Kobayashi, M. Wakita, S. Hoshino |
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| Abstract |
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Three sheep fitted with cannulas in the rumen and the caecum were used in a 3 횞 3 Latin square design to study the changes in ruminal and caecal microbial populations and their metabolite composition with ammoniated rice straw feeding. The 3 diets contained either 80% untreated rice straw (UTS) or ammoniated rice straw (ATS) and 20% formula feed. These were a control diet (C), a urea supplemented diet (U) containing urea at 1.1% and an ammoniated rice straw diet (AT). Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and means separated by the Student Neumann Kuel`s multiple comparison. AT feeding increased ruminal bacterial counts, in particular cellulolytic bacterial counts (p<0.05) which were 1.8, 2.4 and 7.0 (횞106/ml ruminal fluid) for C, U and AT, respectively. There was an increasing tendency (p<0.10) in ruminal fungal population with U; values were 2.0, 5.2, 3.1 (횞103/ml ruminal fluid) for C, U and AT, respectively. Ruminal protozoa counts were not significantly (p>0.05) altered with diets. Caecal total viable bacterial count with AT was about thrice the value with C. Total VFA concentration in the rumen was significantly increased (p<0.025) (7.7 mmol/dl for C and 8.2 mmol/dl for AT) and correspondingly, pH lowered when AT was fed. Sheep on AT tended to produce less acetate and more butyrate in the rumen without significance (p>0.05). Similar to the rumen, total VFA concentrations of 4.4, 3.8 and 5.2 mmol/dl were detected, respectively, for C, U and AT. Caecal ammonia-nitrogen concentrations were about six-fold of that in the rumen, though there were no differences (p>0.05) among treatments. |
| Keywords:
Ammoniated Rice Straw; Microbes; End-products; Rumen; Caecum |
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