Two 3 x 2 factorial growth trials and a companion metabolism trial with 13, 15, or 17% dietary CP (DM basis), with or without 3% of the DM replaced with slowly degraded menhaden fish meal, were conducted to determine if level of dietary protein influences whether slowly degraded protein improves lamb growth and protein use. The growth trials included 32 and 34 pens of two weanling lambs initially weighing 23 to 26 kg and fed for 42 d. The metabolism trial included 12 additional lambs fed in metabolism cages with a 2-wk adjustment period, a 1-wk preliminary period, and a 7-d collection period. Plasma urea N (PUN) was measured in all lambs at the conclusion of the second growth trial and at the end of the metabolism trial. There was a protein level x protein source interaction (P = 0.05) for PUN of the 12 lambs in the metabolism trial but not for the 68 lambs in the second growth trial. Replacement of part of the soybean meal protein with protein from fish meal did not affect ADG or G:F at any protein level, but it lowered (P = 0.08) PUN in the second growth trial. Plasma urea N values were higher (P = 0.002) in lambs fed diets with 15 or 17% CP; however, ADG (P = 0.037 in Exp. 1 and P = 0.055 in Exp. 2), and G:F (P = 0.094 in Exp. 1 and P = 0.003 in Exp. 2) were lower for lambs fed the diets with 13% CP. There was little difference in ADG or G:F between lambs fed the diets with 15 or 17% CP, suggesting that a CP level of 15% with supplemental protein from soybean meal would be optimal for 25- to 40-kg growing Finnsheep x Dorset lambs.

A database of 349 treatment mean observations, representing 3404 goats from 73 publications between 1973 and 2003, was used to determine metabolizable protein (MP) requirements for maintenance (MPm) and growth (MPg) of goats. Published CP degradation properties of feedstuffs and proportions of dietary ingredients were used to estimate MP intake (MPI, g/day), which was regressed against ADG, with both variables scaled by BW(0.75). Goats were classified as meat (≥50% Boer; 60 observations), dairy (selected for milk production; 129 observations) and indigenous (160 observations) biotypes. Because of differences (P<0.01) among biotypes in slopes, separate regressions were initially performed-meat: MPI = 2.55(S.E. =0.360) + (0.441(S.E. =0.0276) x ADG) (n=58; R2 =0.82); dairy: MPI =2.83(S.E. =0.344) + (0.299(S.E. =0.0238) x ADG) (n=123; R2-0.57); and indigenous: MPI - 3.23(S>E> = 0.212) + (0.281 (S>E. = 0.0304 x ADG) (n=152; R2 =0.36). Intercepts did not differ among biotypes (P=0.37), but the slope for meat goats differed (P<0.01) from those for dairy and indigenous goats; therefore, data sets for dairy and indigenous goats were pooled and split into development (n=150) and evaluation (n=125) subsets. Using the equation derived from the development data subset for dairy and indigenous goats (i.e., MPI = 3.14(S.E. =0.189) + (0.285(S.E.=0.0168) x ADG) (n = 144; R2 =0.67), MPI for the evaluation subset was predicted; regressing observed against predicted MPI of the evaluation data subset resulted in an intercept and slope not different from 0 and 1, respectively (P>0.05). The equation from the development subset for dairy and indigenous goats was compared with the equation from the meat goat data set; there was a difference (P<0.01) in slopes but not in intercepts (P=0.25). Therefore, a dummy variable (D=1 for meat goats and 0 otherwise) was used to develop a common intercept equation: MPI = 3.07(S.E. =0.165) + (0.290(S.E =0.0150) x ADG) + (0.114(S.E. =0.0162) x D x ADG) (n=202; R2 = 0.75). View the MathML source. In conclusion, based on regression of MPI against ADG, MPm was 3.07 g/kg BW(0.75) for all biotypes of growing goats, and MPg was 0.404 and 0.290 g/g ADG for meat and other (dairy and indigenous) goats, respectively.

L Hove, 'Growing trees for profitable milk production: a manual for farmers and extension staff', p.37, 2004

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004. | Food insecurity can contribute to the advancement of diseases such as growth stunting and HIV/AIDS. A holistic approach to addressing food insecurity includes reviewing local resources; including indigenous food stuffs. Six studies investigate the potential of insect nutrition to meet dietary needs in rural South Africa. A novel trapping method for Trinervitermes sp. is examined by parameters of time, sustainability and bait used. Local grass (Themeda triandra Forssk.) seemed to be the most effective bait, being significantly more attractive than loose mound soil (p=0.01), wet maize stalks (p=0.01) or cardboard (p=0.05). The trapping device was demonstrated as an effective tool in assessing the feeding preferences of Trinervitermes sp., which compete directly with cattle for grazing food resources. The chemical composition of Macrotermes natalensis alates (winged, wingless and fried), soldiers, and Odontotermes sp. alates (wingless) was determined. Alates were rich in fat, ranging between 49.2-60.6% (dry matter basis). The protein content ofM natalensis and Odontotermes sp. alates compared favourably to pork and chicken. Alates were high in glutamic, aspartic and alanine amino acids and low in methionine, serine and threonine. Amino acid digestion for broiler chickens was high, ranging between 87.6-96.1%. In an era where rural and urban cultures are rapidly merging, entomophagy may be discarded as an embarrassment or nonsensical practice. The high nutritional content of M natalensis and Odontotermes sp. should be publicised both to increase the awareness of their high quality as a food source for both poultry and human consumption and to avoid the abandonment of cultural practices that make sense.

‘Florigraze’ and ‘Arbrook’ are the most widely used cultivars of rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.), but performance of ruminants grazing these cultivars has not been compared. The objective of this study was to determine sward characteristics and performance of Holstein replacement heifers (Bos taurus) on continuously stocked pastures of Florigraze and Arbrook growing on a loamy, siliceous, hyperthermic Grossarenic Paleudult soil. Herbage mass and allowance did not differ between cultivars during 3 yr of grazing and averaged 2840 kg DM ha⁻¹ and 2.25 kg of forage kg⁻¹ of animal live weight, respectively. Percentage of Arbrook in pasture herbage mass decreased from Year 1 (89%) to Year 3 (66%), while percentage of Florigraze remained relatively constant (90 to 87%). Average herbage crude protein (CP) concentration and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) were greater in Florigraze than in Arbrook (177 vs. 161 g kg⁻¹ and 705 vs. 661 g kg⁻¹, respectively). Average stocking rate varied little between cultivars, and animal performance was generally similar until Year 3. With a much lower percentage of rhizoma peanut in herbage mass for Arbrook than Florigraze pastures in Year 3, average daily gain (ADG; 701 vs. 516 g) and gain ha⁻¹ (575 vs. 418 kg) were greater for heifers grazing Florigraze than for those grazing Arbrook. Florigraze appears better suited for pasture programs with continuous stocking, primarily because of superior persistence, leading to greater animal performance with time.

'Florigraze' and 'Arbrook' are the most widely used cultivars of rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.), but performance of ruminants grazing these cultivars has not been compared. The objective of this study was to determine sward characteristics and performance of Holstein replacement heifers (Bos taurus) on continuously stocked pastures of Florigraze and Arbrook growing on a loamy, siliceous, hyperthermic Grossarenic Paleudult soil. Herbage mass and allowance did not differ between cultivars during 3 yr of grazing and averaged 2840 kg DM ha(-1) and 2.25 kg of forage kg(-1) of animal live weight, respectively. Percentage of Arbrook in pasture herbage mass decreased from Year 1 (89%) to Year 3 (66%), while percentage of Florigraze remained relatively constant (90 to 87%). Average herbage crude protein (CP) concentration and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) were greater in Florigraze than in Arbrook (177 vs. 161 g kg(-1) and 705 vs. 661 g kg(-1), respectively). Average stocking rate varied little between cultivars, and animal performance was generally similar until Year 3. With a much lower percentage of rhizoma peanut in herbage mass for Arbrook than Florigraze pastures in Year 3, average daily gain (ADG; 701 vs. 516 g) and gain ha(-1) (575 vs. 418 kg) were greater for heifers grazing Florigraze than for those grazing Arbrook. Florigraze appears better suited for pasture programs with continuous stocking, primarily because of superior persistence, leading to greater animal performance with time.

An experiment was conducted to examine the digestible energy (DE) content for weanling pigs in a cohort of wheats grown in Western Australia, and to establish relationships between DE content and their chemical composition. The 3 x 3 x 2 factorial experiment examined the wheat variety (Arrino, Stiletto and Westonia), growing location (high, medium and low rainfall zone) and harvest year (1999 and 2000). Pigs (no. = 5 per diet) aged about 28 days were given a diet at a level of 0.05 x live weight containing 900 g/kg of the wheat and an acid-insoluble ash marker for 10 days, with samples of faeces collected from each pig for the final 5 days. The average live weight of pigs was 6.6 (s.d. 0.77) kg. The DE content of wheats harvested in 1999 varied by up to 1.3 MJ/kg, while wheats harvested in 2000 varied by up to 1.8 MJ/kg. When the 2 years' data were combined, the DE content ranged from 12.5 to 14.4 MJ/kg. Both the variety and growing region significantly influenced (P < 0.05, P < 0.001, respectively in year 1999; P < 0.001, P < 0.01, respectively in year 2000) the DE content of wheat. Also, DE content of wheat differed significantly due to growing season (P < 0.001). Correlation studies between chemical composition and DE content of the wheats found significant inverse relationships between DE content and total xylose (r = -0.719, P < 0.05), insoluble xylose (r = -0.742, P < 0.05), neutral-detergent fibre (r = -0.839, P < 0.01), total-P (r = -0.833, P < 0.01), and phytate-P (r = -0.753, P < 0.05) contents with the wheats harvested in 1999. However, such relationships were not significant (P > 0.05) with the wheats harvested in 2000. In addition, the precipitation level (mm) during the growing season of wheats was strongly correlated (r = -0.821, P < 0.01) to the DE content of wheat in year 1999, but was not correlated in 2000. The results indicate that the genetic and environmental conditions during the growth of wheat have a significant impact on the utilization of plant energy in weaner pigs, and that greater attention needs to be paid to these influences in the assignment of energy values for wheats given to weaner pigs.