Impacts of a post-transport/pre-processing rest period on the growth performance, anthelmintic efficacy, and serum metabolite changes in cattle entering a feed yard.

A total of 80 crossbred, high-risk heifers (initially 250 ± 4.2 kg BW), were transported from an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma sale barn to the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Research Center. Cattle were unloaded and randomly placed into one of four receiving pens and provided ad libitum hay and water. Each pen was randomly assigned to one of the four rest times before processing: (1) immediately upon arrival (0); (2) after a 6-h rest period (6); (3) after a 24-h rest period (24); and (4) after a 48-h rest period (48). After all cattle were processed, heifers were allotted into individual pens with ad libitum access to a receiving ration and water. Heifers were weighed individually on d 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 to calculate average daily gain (ADG). Feed added and refusals were measured daily to determine dry matter intake (DMI). A fecal egg count reduction test and analysis of blood serum metabolites were also conducted. All data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS (v. 9.4, Cary, NC) with individual animal as the experimental unit. Processing time did not impact (P > 0.05) heifer BW or ADG. From d 0 to 35, DMI decreased linearly (P = 0.027) as rest time increased. The number of days for heifers to reach a DMI of 2.5% BW was linearly increased (P = 0.023) as rest time increased. There was no evidence of differences (P ≥ 0.703) among rest times for feed efficiency. While morbidity did not differ between treatments (P > 0.10), mortality increased linearly (P = 0.026) as the time of rest increased. A significant processing time × day interaction (P < 0.0001) was observed for the prevalence of fecal parasites, where the percentage of positive samples was significantly lower 14-d after anthelmintic treatment, regardless of the processing time. Serum IBR titer for heifers processed at either 0 or 6-h upon arrival was significantly higher (P < 0.01) on d 35 compared to d 0. Heifers processed after a 48-h rest period had significantly higher glucose values (P < 0.01) on d 0 compared to heifers processed at 0, 6, or 24-h. In summary, rest time prior to processing did not impact receiving calf growth performance. A 6-h rest period upon arrival appeared to be most beneficial to DMI. Anthelmintic treatment at processing reduced the parasitic load in heifers processed at all times. Vaccine titer did not increase after initial processing in heifers processed 24- or 48-h after arrival, indicating the seroconversion of IBR antibodies during the longer rest period.

Evaluating the impact of feeding dried distillers grains with solubles on Boer goat growth performance, meat color stability, and antioxidant capacity.

A total of 72 male Boer goat kids (21.7 ± 0.5 kg) were fed for 21 d with 3 kids per pen and 12 pens per treatment. Dietary treatments were: 0% inclusion of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS; 0% DDGS) or 33% DDGS inclusion (33% DDGS) and were provided ad libitum. Goats and feeders were weighed weekly to collect body weights (BW) and determine feed disappearance in order to calculate average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and feed efficiency (G:F). At the conclusion of the feeding study, a subset (n = 30; 2-3 goats from each pen representing six6 pens per treatment) of goats were harvested, carcasses evaluated, and loins were fabricated into 2.54 cm chops. Goat chop discoloration was evaluated by trained panelists and measured for L*, a*, and b* values on days 0, 4, 7, and 10 under retail display conditions. Samples were collected and analyzed for lipid oxidation, fatty acid profile, and hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant capacity. No evidence of differences was observed for final BW, ADFI, G:F, and carcass characteristics (P > 0.05). However, goats fed the 0% DDGS diet had greater ADG compared with those fed a diet containing 33% DDGS (P = 0.05). Overall, visual evaluation of discoloration, L*, a*, and b* as well as lipid oxidation data confirmed that feeding 33% DDGS to goats had no effect on goat chop discoloration and lipid oxidation (P > 0.10). However, all chops demonstrated a display effect, which they increased in visual discoloration and lipid oxidation and decreased in a* and b* values (P < 0.01) over the entirety of the 10-d period of retail display, regardless of the dietary treatments. As expected, feeding 33% DDGS to goats decreased relative percentage of multiple and total monounsaturated fatty acids, but increased relative percentage of multiple and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA; P < 0.05). The antioxidant capacity measurements showed no treatment difference in the hydrophilic portion (P > 0.10), but chops from the 33% DDGS treatment had greater lipophilic antioxidant activity compared with the 0% DDGS chops (P < 0.05). In conclusion, including 33% DDGS to the diet may negatively impact goat growth performance, but did not impact any carcass characteristics. Feeding a diet with 33% DDGS resulted in an increase in the PUFA content of goat chops but did not appear to impact meat color or lipid oxidation. The supposed negative consequence from increased PUFA is likely counterbalanced by the increased antioxidant capacity in the lipid component of meat, resulting in no difference in meat shelf-life.

Effects of a dry acidulant addition to prevent Salmonella contamination in poultry feed.

Salmonella subs. serovar Enteritidis is a potential biological pathogen of concern in the poultry industry. Contamination of the bacterium on eggshells has led to human illnesses. With the implementation of new regulations, animal feed manufacturing continues to be under more stringent requirements. Specifically, there is zero tolerance for Salmonella Pullorum, Gallinarum, or Enteritidis in poultry feed. For this reason, it is important to determine an effective method of reducing or preventing Salmonella contamination in feed for poultry. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of sodium bisulfate (SBS; Jones-Hamilton, Co., Walbridge, OH) added to poultry mash to reduce or prevent Salmonella growth over time. A single, commercially produced all-flock poultry mash was mixed with four different levels of SBS: 0.0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, and 0.70%. After SBS addition, the treated mash was inoculated with Salmonella enterica subsp, enterica serovar Enteritidis (ATCC 13076) and enumerated for Salmonella on days 0, 1, 2, 7, and 14 post-inoculation by plating on xylose lysine deoxycholate agar. There was no significant effect of SBS inclusion level on the reduction of Salmonella (P = 0.23); however, there was a significant effect of time across treatments (P < 0.0001). Additionally, there was no inclusion level × time interaction (P = 0.68). These results suggest that while SBS inclusion has no effect on Salmonella concentrations, storage time is effective at reducing or eliminating Salmonella contamination in poultry feed.

Effect of cleaning corn on mycotoxin concentration and nursery pig growth performance.

Mycotoxins are naturally produced hazards that result from molds grown on cereal grains and other commodities. These molds may produce carcinogenic mycotoxins, which can be harmful to humans and animals. Removing broken kernels has been demonstrated to reduce mycotoxin concentration, but with high variability. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to quantify the magnitude of natural mycotoxin concentration that may be reduced by cleaning corn. Two loads of corn that were naturally contaminated with mycotoxins were procured. Corn for Experiment 1 was contaminated with aflatoxin (1,074 parts per billion; ppb), fumonisin (8.3 parts per million; ppm), and ochratoxin A (206 ppb), while corn for Experiment 2 was contaminated with only fumonisin (5.5 ppm). Corn was cleaned by mechanical sieving. For each experiment, corn was divided into twenty 150 kg runs. Runs were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental treatments: 1) no screen 2) 12.7 mm screen, 3) 4.8 mm screen, and 4) 12.7 + 4.8-mm screen. The corn cleaner was sanitized between runs. Three 5 kg corn samples were collected from each run, and analyzed for mycotoxin concentration. In Experiment 1, cleaning reduced (P < 0.05) aflatoxin and fumonisin concentration by an average of 26% and 45%, respectively, compared to the original uncleaned corn level, but did not impact (P > 0.10) ochratoxin A. The resultant screenings had nearly four times the aflatoxin (4,224 ppb) and 7.5 times the fumonisin concentration (60.4 ppm) as the uncleaned corn. In Experiment 2, cleaning reduced (P < 0.05) fumonisin concentration by 32%. The resultant screenings had 19.6 times the fumonisin concentration (65.4 ppm) as the uncleaned corn. To determine the effect that cleaning corn may have on nursery pig growth performance, 360 nursery pigs were used in Experiment 3 to evaluate the impact of cleaning or pelleting on growth performance. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with corn type (uncleaned vs. cleaned) and feed form (mash vs. pelleted from either mill A or B). Neither cleaning corn nor pellet mill type affected (P > 0.19) nursery pig growth performance. Pelleting improved (P < 0.0001) gain to feed ratio (G:F) by 7.6% compared to mash diets. These data suggest that cleaning is an effective method to legally reduce aflatoxin and fumonisin concentration, but does not impact animal growth performance. Screenings should be used cautiously when feeding to animals.