Protein Metabolism in the Rumen of Silage-Fed Steers: Effect of Fishmeal Supplementation

Source: JM Dawson, CI Bruce, PJ Buttery, M Gill, and DE Beever

Ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. Cropper) silage was given to four Friesian steers (initial live weight (LW) 172 kg) alone or with a fishmeal supplement (150 g fresh weight/kg silage dry matter (DM)) in a balanced two-period change-over design. The dietary components were the same as those used in a recent experiment by Gill et al. (1987). All diets were offered hourly at 24 g DM/kg LW. Fishmeal supplementation increased dietary nitrogen intake (P less than 0.01) and significantly increased the flow of total N (P less than 0.01), non-ammonia N (NAN) (P less than 0.01) and amino acids (P less than 0.05) at the duodenum. The increased supply of NAN to the duodenum was due largely (67%) to increased flow of undergraded dietary protein.

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