Spineless cactus use management on microbiological quality, performance, and nutritional disorders in sheep.

The physically effective neutral detergent fiber content alone has not been able to explain the appearance of diarrhea in ruminants fed diets with large volumes of spineless cactus, so the proliferation of enterobacteria in spineless cactus may be associated with cases of diarrhea in sheep. In the in vitro test, used two varieties of spineless cactus, both of which were chopped to particles of 4 and 2 cm2. For the in vivo test, 15 lambs were allocated to three treatment groups, namely, spineless cactus crushed and immediately supplied to the animals; spineless cactus crushed 8 h before supply; and silage of spineless cactus. The variables evaluated were dry matter intake, weight gain, fecal score, hemogram, and fecal colony count. In the in vitro test, higher Enterobacteriaceae and lactic acid bacteria counts were found both at 12 h and 24 h when the spineless cactus was crushed to 2 cm2 in both varieties. The sheep fed the spineless cactus crushed 8 h prior to supply showed the highest Enterobacteriaceae count in the feces (8.48 CFU/g), compared to animals fed silage of spineless cactus (4.95 CFU/g). It can thus be concluded that the management of spineless cactus influences the development of total and fecal coliforms, especially when it is chopped to 2 cm2 and exposed to the environment for periods longer than 7 h, and that the bacterial population can be controlled by administering the spineless cactus in the form of silage.

Metabolic status of lactating cows given a hepatoprotectant and different feed energy sources.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of hepatoprotective agents added to diets containing different energy sources on the metabolic status of lactating dairy cows in confinement. Sixteen Holstein × Gir crossbred midlactation cows with a body weight of 553 ± 85 kg were included in this feeding trial. These animals were arranged in a 4 × 4 Latin square experimental design. A 2 × 2 factorial arrangement was employed in this feeding experiment. Experimental treatments consisted of the administration of diets supplemented with a hepatoprotectant and diets without hepatoprotectant. These diets contained varying amounts of ground corn or citrus pulp as energy sources. Serum markers for energy metabolism and proteins were evaluated and liver enzymes were measured. Blood samples were collected in the morning before (0 h) and 4 h after the animals were fed these diets. There was no interaction between the hepatoprotective agent and the dietary energy sources for the metabolic status variables. Ground corn as an energy source yielded higher serum concentrations of glucose, HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and globulins, whereas b-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), total cholesterol, albumin, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) yielded the highest concentrations in diets containing citrus pulp. There was interaction between time and hepatoprotective agent in serum LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol concentration. The present study shows that ground corn diets increased the synthesis of glucogenic nutrients, whereas citrus pulp used as an energy source altered the lipid status of lactating cows. The hepatoprotective agent increased postprandial serum LDL cholesterol levels.