Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop and compare techniques for determining nutrient flow based on digesta samples collected from the reticulum or rumen of lactating dairy cows with estimates generated by the omasal sampling technique. Pre-experimental method development suggested, after comparing with the particle size distribution of feces, application of primary sieving of ruminal and reticular digesta from lactating cows through an 11.6-mm sieve, implying that digesta particles smaller than this were eligible to flow out of the rumen. For flow measurements at the different sampling sites 4 multiparous, lactating Nordic Red cows fitted with ruminal cannulas were used in a Latin square design with 4 dietary treatments, in which crimped barley was replaced with 3 incremental levels of protein supplementation of canola meal. Digesta was collected from the rumen, reticulum, and omasum to represent a 24-h feeding cycle. Nutrient flow was calculated using the reconstitution system based on Cr, Yb, and indigestible neutral detergent fiber and using N-15 as microbial marker. Large and small particles and the fluid phase were recovered from digesta collected at all sampling sites. Bacterial samples were isolated from the digesta collected from the omasum. Several differences existed for digesta composition, nutrient flows, and estimates of ruminal digestibility among the 3 different sampling sites. Sampling site x diet interactions were not significant. The estimated flows of DM, potentially digestible neutral detergent fiber, nonammonia N, and microbial N were significantly different between all sampling sites. However, the difference between DM flow based on sampling from the reticulum and the omasum was small (0.13 kg/d greater in the omasum). The equality between the reticulum and the omasum as sampling sites was supported by the following regression: omasal DM flow = 0.37 (+/- 0.649) + 0.94 (+/- 0.054) reticular DM flow (R-2 = 0.96 and root mean square error = 0.438 kg/d). More deviating nutrient-flow estimates when sampling digesta from the rumen than the reticulum compared with the omasum suggested that sampling from the reticulum is the most promising alternative to the omasal sampling technique. To definitively promote sampling from the reticulum as an alternative to the omasal sampling technique, more research is needed to determine selection criteria of reticular digesta for accurate and precise flow estimates across a range of diets.

Keywords

dairy cow; digesta flow; microbial protein synthesis; rumen digestibility

Published in

Journal of Dairy Science
2015, Volume: 98, number: 5, pages: 3274-3283
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

SLU Authors

• Fatehi, Farhang

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Tehran

• Krizsan, Sophie Julie

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Gidlund, Helena

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Huhtanen, Pekka

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2014-8613

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68577