The salinity tolerance of Javan rusa deer (Cervus timorensis russa) was investigated with seven stags, aged 4.5 years. Animals were offered a medium-quality chaffed lucerne hay and given five different levels of water salinity: (a) control (570 mg/kg of total dissolved salts (TDS)) and (b) 'saline' water with TDS contents of 1000, 3500, 6000 and 8500 mg/kg. Food intake, food digestibility and nitrogen balance were not affected by increasing salt concentration in drinking water, however the drinking water (DW) intake, the total (food plus drinking) water intake and the DW:dry-matter ratio increased with increasing salt concentration. Some deer given water containing 8500 mg TDS per kg showed signs of stress which included large between-day fluctuations in water intake, opening of the orbital gland, head shaking, and rapid breathing. Rusa deer can tolerate drinking water containing 6000 mg TDS per kg for at least 9 days without harmful effect but may be unable to tolerate water with 8500 mg TDS per kg.

1. The effects on food intake and weight gain of offering broiler chickens (2 to 7 weeks of age) dry food, wet food, wet food containing whey, whey as drinking liquid and combinations of two of these were studied in 5 experiments. 2. Wet feed generally improved both weight gain and feed efficiencies significantly. Feeding whey also improved weight gain and feed conversion efficiency, but whey offered as a drinking fluid had an adverse effect on broiler performance. 3. When whey was offered both as drinking liquid and added to the food it had a deleterious effect. 4. When whey was offered from 4 or 6 weeks of age, it had a better effect than when offered from 2 weeks of age. 5. There was better performance when whey in the drinking water was diluted and/or offered on alternate days or half-days. 6. Broilers allowed to choose between wet and dry feed when water was freely available chose mostly dry feed; in the absence of drinking water they chose mostly wet food. Birds offered water and liquid whey avoided whey completely. 7. It is concluded that whey can be used in diets for broiler chickens by incorporating it in the food as long as drinking water is offered ad libitum. Whey may be offered as a drink if the food is mixed with 1.8 times its weight of water but it is better to dilute the whey with an equal volume of water whether it is added to food or given as drink. Good results can also be obtained when undiluted whey is offered alternately with water, either in half-day or full-day periods.

The estrogenic effect of butylparaben was investigated in a rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss test system. Butylparaben was administered orally to sexually immature rainbow trout every second day for up to 10 days in doses between 4 and 74 mg kg(-1) 2 d(-1) and in the water at 35 and 201 microgram l(-1) for 12 days. Plasma vitellogenin was measured before and during the exposures and the concentrations of butylparaben in liver and muscle were determined at the end of experiments. Increases in average plasma vitellogenin levels were seen at oral exposure to 9 mg butylparaben kg(-1) 2 d(-1). The ED50 values for increase in vitellogenin synthesis were 46, 29 and 10.5 mg butylparaben kg(-1) 2 d(-1), respectively, at day 3, 6 and 12. Exposure to 201 microgram butylparaben l(-1) increased vitellogenin synthesis, but exposure to 35 microgram l(-1) did not. Butylparaben showed little tendency to bioaccumulation in rainbow trout; less than 1 per thousand of the total amount of butylparaben administered orally at 51 mg kg(-1) 2 d(-1) over the 12 days experimental period was retained in liver at the end of the experiment. After 12 days exposure to 35 and 201 microgram butylparaben l(-1), plasma concentrations were 9 and 183 microgram l(-1), respectively, and for the fish exposed to 201 microgram l(-1) there was a positive correlation between concentrations of vitellogenin and butylparaben in the plasma. On the assumption that butylparaben removed from the water phase during water exposure were taken up into the fish, butylparaben uptake rates in the fish exposed to 35 and 201 microgram butylparaben l(-1) were 13 and 78 mg kg(-1) day(-1), respectively.

During winter in southern Queensland, eight rusa deer stags aged 4 years were given ad libitum lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay and confined in individual metabolism pens for 26 days. Stags ate 2.04 kg dry matter (DM) per day and drank 6.4 kg water per day, while the drinking water : food DM ratio was 3.3 l/kg. In experiment 2, seven rusa stags were given ad libitum lucerne hay or oaten (Avena spp.) hay with or without barley grain supplementation (200 g/day) for 56 days (four periods). This experiment was conducted from 26 July to 19 September 2001, when the stags were exhibiting the behaviour characteristic of the rut. Rusa stags ate 1.19 and 1.17 kg DM per day of lucerne and oaten hay respectively. Rusa stags given oaten hay drank slightly more water than those that received lucerne hay (5.34 and 4.47 kg/day, respectively). The drinking water : food DM ratios were 3.81 and 4.67 kg/kg for lucerne and oaten hay, respectively. Barley grain supplementation (200 g/day) had no influence on total food or water intakes of the rusa stags.

The paper discusses the contribution of crop residues (CR) to feed resources in the context of the water productivity of CR in livestock feeding, using India as an example. It is argued that crop residues are already the single most important feed resource in many livestock production systems in developing countries and that increasing their contribution to livestock feeding needs to be linked to improving their fodder quality. Using examples from multi-dimensional crop improvement, it is shown that CR fodder quality of key crops such as sorghum, rice and groundnut can be improved by genetic enhancement without detriment to grain and pod yields. Improving crop residue quality through genetic enhancement, agronomic and management interventions and strategic supplementation could improve water productivity of farms and systems considerably. The draw-backs of CR based feeding regimes are also pointed out, namely that they result in only moderate levels of livestock productivity and produce higher greenhouse gas emissions than are observed under feeding regimes that are based on high quality forages and concentrates. It is argued that feed metabolisable energy (ME) content should be used as an important determinant of livestock productivity; water requirement for feed and fodder production should be related to a unit of feed ME rather than feed bulk. The paper also revisits data from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) work on livestock-water productivity in the Indian state of Gujarat, showing that water input per unit ME can vary several-fold in the same feed depending on where the feed is produced. Thus, the production of one mega joule of ME from alfalfa required 12.9L of irrigation-derived water in south Gujarat but 50.7L of irrigation-derived water in north Gujarat. Wheat straw in south Gujarat required 20.9L of irrigation-derived water for 1MJME and was in this instance less water use efficient than alfalfa. We conclude that water use efficiency across feed and fodder classes (for example crop residue v. planted forages) and within a feed is highly variable. Feeding recommendations should be made according to specific water use requirement per unit ME in a defined production system.

Objetivou-se avaliar o consumo de água ofertado por bebedouros e provenientes das dietas via cocho em ovinos alimentados com silagens de diferentes forrageiras tropicais do Semiárido. Foram utilizados 32 cordeiros sem padrão de racial definido, com idade média de seis meses e peso corporal inicial médio de 17,61±2,63 kg, distribuídos em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado recebendo silagens de 4 forrageiras (erva-sal, capim buffel, gliricídia e pornunça) e 8 repetições. O experimento teve duração de 59 dias. As dietas foram fornecidas, às 9h30 e 15h30, ajustando-se a quantidade oferecida de forma a permitir sobras de 10%, sendo estas coletadas diariamente para determinação de matéria seca (MS), matéria mineral (MM), proteína bruta (PB), extrato etéreo (EE), carboidratos totais (CT), fibra em detergente neutro corrigida para cinzas e proteína (FDNcp), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), lignina (LIG), carboidratos não-fibrosos (CNF), celulose (CEL) e hemicelulose (HEM). O consumo de água foi determinado pela ingestão de água via bebedouro (IAVB), ingestão de água via alimentação (IAVA) e ingestão total de água (ITA). Verificou-se que os animais alimentados com dieta contendo silagem de erva-sal apresentaram maior consumo (P<0,05) de água ofertada no bebedouro (4,466 kg/dia) e maior consumo de água total (5,383 kg/dia), já os animais alimentados com dietas contendo silagem de gliricídia (1,267 kg/dia) e pornunça (1,143 kg/dia) ingeriram mais água proveniente da dieta (P<0,05). Cordeiros alimentados com silagem de erva-sal necessitam de maior ingestão de água para suprir seu requerimento hídrico

Objetivou-se avaliar o consumo de água ofertado por bebedouros e provenientes das dietas via cocho em ovinos alimentados com silagens de diferentes forrageiras tropicais do Semiárido. Foram utilizados 32 cordeiros sem padrão de racial definido, com idade média de seis meses e peso corporal inicial médio de 17,61±2,63 kg, distribuídos em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado recebendo silagens de 4 forrageiras (erva-sal, capim buffel, gliricídia e pornunça) e 8 repetições. O experimento teve duração de 59 dias. As dietas foram fornecidas, às 9h30 e 15h30, ajustando-se a quantidade oferecida de forma a permitir sobras de 10%, sendo estas coletadas diariamente para determinação de matéria seca (MS), matéria mineral (MM), proteína bruta (PB), extrato etéreo (EE), carboidratos totais (CT), fibra em detergente neutro corrigida para cinzas e proteína (FDNcp), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), lignina (LIG), carboidratos não-fibrosos (CNF), celulose (CEL) e hemicelulose (HEM). O consumo de água foi determinado pela ingestão de água via bebedouro (IAVB), ingestão de água via alimentação (IAVA) e ingestão total de água (ITA). Verificou-se que os animais alimentados com dieta contendo silagem de erva-sal apresentaram maior consumo (P<0,05) de água ofertada no bebedouro (4,466 kg/dia) e maior consumo de água total (5,383 kg/dia), já os animais alimentados com dietas contendo silagem de gliricídia (1,267 kg/dia) e pornunça (1,143 kg/dia) ingeriram mais água proveniente da dieta (P<0,05). Cordeiros alimentados com silagem de erva-sal necessitam de maior ingestão de água para suprir seu requerimento hídrico