Construction and Operation of a Respiration Chamber of the Head-Box Type for Methane Measurement from Cattle
Octavio Alonso Castelán Ortega | Paulina Elizabeth Pedraza Beltrán | Gloria Stefanny Hernández Pineda | Mohammed Benaouda | Manuel González Ronquillo | Luisa T Molina | Juan Carlos Ku Vera | Hugo Daniel Montelongo Pérez | María Fernanda Vázquez Carrillo
This paper aims to describe the construction and operation of a respiration chamber of the head-box type for methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) measurements in bovines. The system consists of (1) a head box with a stainless steel frame and acrylic walls, floor, and ceiling; (2) a stainless steel feeder; (3) an automatic drinking water bowl; (4) a hood made from reinforced canvas; (5) an infrared (IR) CH<sub>4</sub> gas analyzer, a mass flow generator, a data-acquisition system; and (6) a steel metabolic box. Six assays were conducted to determine the pure CH<sub>4</sub> recovery rate of the whole system in order to validate it and comply with standards of chamber operation. The gravimetrical method was used for the recovery test and the recovery rate obtained was 1.04 ± 0.05. Once the system was calibrated, measurements of CH<sub>4</sub> were conducted using eight animals consisting of four Holstein cows with a live weight of 593.8 ± 51 kg and an average milk yield of 23.3 ± 1.8 kg d<sup>−1</sup> and four heifers with a live weight of 339 ± 28 kg. The CH<sub>4</sub> production values were 687 ± 123 and 248 ± 40 L CH<sub>4</sub> d<sup>−1</sup> for cows and heifers, respectively. The CH<sub>4</sub> yield was 19.7 ± 3.4 g and 17.1 ± 3.4 g CH<sub>4</sub> kg<sup>−1</sup> of dry matter consumed for cows and heifers, respectively. These results are consistent with those reported in the literature.
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