Livestock Research for Rural Development 20 (supplement) 2008 Guide for preparation of papers LRRD News

Citation of this paper

Effects of different  levels and  sources of crude protein supplementation on feed intake, digestibility and nitrogen retention in swamp buffaloes compared to local cattle

Pham Tan Nha, Nguyen Van Thu and T R Preston*

 College of Agriculture, Cantho University, Vietnam
ptnha@ctu.edu.vn
* Finca Ecológica, TOSOLY,  AA# 48 Socorro, Santander, Colombia
 

Abstract    

 

Four growing buffaloes (mean LW 226 kg) and four growing local cattle (mean LW 145 kg) were allocated to 4 diets according to 2*2 factorial within  a double Latin square design (one for each species).  The main coarse feed was para grass (1% body weight, DM basis) and rice straw fed ad libitum. The supplements were 150g and 200g crude protein (CP)/100kg LW/day from Sesbania grandiflora foliage and urea, or from cottonseed cake. The periods on each diet were 28 days with measurements of digestibility and N balance over the last 6 days.

 

DM intake did not differ between cottonseed meal and sesbania/urea supplementation; but was higher for the 200g CP level than the 150g level. There were no differences between species when DM intake was expressed on the basis of metabolic live weight but daily weight gain was higher for buffaloes. The DM and NDF apparent digestibilities were higher in buffaloes than in cattle (53 vs. 49.9 % and 57.9 vs 54.0%).. Crude protein apparent digestibility did not differ between species but was higher for the higher level of CP supplementation. Ruminal NH3-N concentration was higher with the 200g CP level than with 100 g CP, both before and 3 hours after feeding.

 

It is concluded that cottonseed meal and foliage of Sesbania grandiflora plus urea have similar properties in providing rumen fermentable nitrogen and bypass protein for cattle and buffaloes fed rice straw and grass basal diets. Apparent digestibility coefficients were higher for DM and NDF in buffaloes than in cattle. N retention was also higher and this was reflected in higher live weight gains for the buffaloes. There was no difference in N retention between species when expressed on basis of metabolic live weight (W0.75).

Key words: Buffaloes, cattle, cottonseed, digestibility, rice straw, sesbania, urea


Introduction

 

Cattle and buffaloes play an important role for small farmers for providing milk, meat and draught power. When cattle and buffalo are kept under similar conditions, it has been reported that buffaloes digest feed more efficiently than cattle, the difference being typically 2 to 3 percentage units higher (Wanapat 2001). Several experiments in India reported that ruminal characteristics of buffaloes are more favorable to ammonia-nitrogen utilization (Ludri and Razdan 1987, cited by Ligda 1998).  Buffaloes digested less crude protein than cattle in one trial but increased their body nitrogen more and they were being fed only 40% of the recommended daily intake of crude protein.  Thu (2005) suggested that the better performance of buffaloes fed coarse fodder may not be related to a superior capacity for fiber digestion, but rather  that they are less discriminating against plants not readily eaten by cattle.

 

Rice straw is a roughage with a low content of essential nutrients and low digestibility and usually fed to buffaloes and cattle as a main diet during the dry season in many Asian countries. These diets result in low performance and poor health. It has been suggested that supplements which increase ruminal ammonia concentrations and provide bypass protein are necessary to improve performance on rice straw diets (Preston and Leng 1987). Combinations of cottonseed cake, Sesbania grandiflora and urea would appear to be appropriate as the source of such supplements.

 

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different levels of crude protein derived from urea plus foliage of Sesbania grandiflora or cottonseed cake on the rumen NH3-N concentration, apparent digestibility and nitrogen retention of swamp buffaloes in comparison to local cattle.

 

Materials and methods 

 
Treatments and design

 

Four growing swamp buffaloes and four growing local cattle with average live weight of 200 kg for buffaloes and 145 kg for cattle were allocated in two 4*4 Latin squarea(one for each species). The treatments in each square were arranged as a 2*2 factorial, the factors being:

Source of crude protein: Cottonseed cake (CS) or foliage of Sesbania grandiflora plus urea

Level of crude protein: 150 or 200 g crude protein per day/100 kg live weight. 

 

Feeding and management

 

The main coarse feed was para grass (Brachiaria decumbens) fed at 1% body weight (DM basis) and rice straw offered ad libitum. The supplements were 150g and 200g crude protein (CP)/100kg LW/day from Sesbania grandiflora foliage and urea, or from cottonseed cake. The experiment was carried out at the experimental farm of Cantho University. The animals were fed for 4 weeks on each diet including an adaptation period of 22 days and 6 days of collection of data. The supplements were fed at 06:00h and 15:00h, followed by part of the roughage on each occasion. At the last feed at 18.00h the remaining roughage was fed. The residues of feed were collected and weighed every morning the next day. Water offered and refused was also measured daily.  During the 6-day collection period, feeds offered and refused, faeces and urine were collected daily, weighed and pooled weekly for analysis.

 

Chemical  analysis

 

The samples were analysed for DM, OM, CP, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), ash and lignin (Table 1).  DM and nitrogen (N) were analysed according to the standard methods of AOAC (1990), NDF, ADF and ADL were determined by the methods of Van Soest et al (1991).


Table 1.  Chemical composition of feeds used in the experiment.(% in DM except for DM which is in fresh matter)

Forage

DM

OM

CP

NDF

ADF

ADL

Ash

Cotton seed cake

85.7

91.6

23.7

41.4

35.8

6.7

8.4

Sesbania

21.9

91.5

23.3

30.0

23.4

10.1

8.5

Para grass

19.4

89.7

9.2

67.2

36.2

5.8

10.3

Rice straw

81.9

85.9

5.1

68.1

40.9

7.8

14.1

DM: Dry matter , OM: Organic matter, CP: Crude protein, ash, NDF: Neutral detergent fibre, ADF: Acid-detergent fibre and ADL: acid-detergent lignin


Digestibility and nitrogen balance 

 

Apparent digestibility coefficients for DM, OM, NDF and ADF, and nitrogen retention,  were determined  by the method indicated by McDonald et al (1998).  

 

Statistical analysis

 

The data were subjected to an analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of Minitab 13.31. Sources of variation were: species, supplement, level, interaction species*level and error. When the F test  was significant  (p<0.05), Tukey’s test for paired comparisons was used (Minitab 13.31).
 

 

Results

 
Feed  intake and weight gain

 

DM intake as a function of live weight or metabolic live weight was higher for the higher level of crude protein with an indication (P=0.02 and 0.01) that it was also higher for cottonseed cake than for sesbania-urea (Table 2).


Table 2.  Mean values for change in live weight, feed intake, apparent digestibility and N balance of cattle and buffaloes fed
cottonseed meal (CS) or foliage of Sesbania grandiflora and urea (S-U) at two levels of crude protein

 

 

N source

CP, g/100 kg LW/day

 

CS

S-U

Prob.

150

200

Prob.

SEM

Live weight, kg

             

Initial

185

186

 

185

186

 

10

Final

194

192

0.92

192

195

0.96

11

ADG

318

237

0.26

234

320

0.24

51

Crude protein in DM, %

9.0

9.37

0.08

8.22

10.1

0.001

0.14

DMI, g/kg LW

19.2

18.6

0.27

18.3

19.5

0.017

0.34

DMI, g/kg LW^0.75

70.5

68.4

0.22

67.2

71.7

0.010

1.15

Apparent digestiblity, %

           

DM

50.8

52

0.52

51

51.8

0.65

1.26

CP

61.5

63.2

0.31

59.2

65.5

0.001

1.18

NDF

55.4

56.5

0.51

56.6

55.3

0.48

1.24

ADF

49.2

45.6

0.47

45.3

49.5

0.39

3.4

N balance, g/d

           

Intake

52

53

0.87

45.3

59.7

0.02

4.09

Faeces

19.8

18.7

0.55

18.1

20.3

0.23

1.29

Urine

15.4

17.1

0.41

13.8

18.8

0.024

1.48

Retention

16.8

17.1

0.9

13.4

20.6

0.001

1.94

NH3, mg/100ml

           

0 hr

8.25

8.18

0.83

7.77

8.66

0.013

0.24

3 hr

11.9

13.1

0.05

11.14

13.8

0.001

0.38


The buffaloes had higher DM intakes than cattle expressed as g/kg0.75 (Table 3). Growth rates were higher for buffaloes than for cattle and there was a suggestion it was higher for cottonseed cake compared with sesbania-urea (P=0.26) and for the 200 g CP level compared with 150 g CP (P=0.24).


Table 3.  Mean values for change in live weight, feed intake, apparent digestibility, N balance and rumen ammonia of cattle compared to buffaloes.

 

Cattle

Buffalo

SEM

Prob.

Live weight, kg

 

 

 

 

Initial

145

226

9.9

0.001

Final

151

236

10.8

0.001

Mean

148

231

 

 

LW^0.75

42.4

59.3

 

 

ADG, g/d

220

335

36

0.04

DMI, g/kg LW

18.5

19.3

0.4

0.27

DMI, g/kg LW0.75

67.5

71.4

1.15

0.04

Apparent digestibility, %

DM

49.9

53

0.83

0.016

CP

61.1

63.6

1.19

0.156

NDF

54

57.9

1.24

0.037

ADF

45

49.7

3.4

0.334

N balance, g/d

 

 

 

 

Intake

40.9

64.1

2.13

0.001

Faeces

15.7

22.8

0.72

0.001

Urine

12.7

19.8

0.81

0.001

Retention

12.5

21.4

1.47

0.001

NH3, mg/100ml

       

0 hr

7.87

8.56

0.23

0.05

3 hr

12.7

12.2

0.39

0.33


Apparent digestibility  

 

The apparent digestibilities of DM, NDF and ADF did not differ between sources or levels of the supplement (Table 2). There were differences for crude protein digestibility between levels of supplements (higher on the 200 CP level compared with 150) but not between sources. Dry matter and NDF digestibilities were higher in buffaloes compared to cattle (Table 3).

 

Nitrogen retention and rumen ammonia

 

Nitrogen retention did not differ between the two sources of crude protein, but was higher for the level of 200g CP than 150g. Nitrogen retention was higher for buffaloes than for cattle (Table 3) and was significantly related with live weight gain Figures 1 and 2).


 

 

Figure 1. Relationship between N retention (g/day) and average daily weight gain in cattle supplemented with cottonseed cake or foliage of Sesbania grandiflora plus urea

Figure 2. Relationship between N retention (g/day) and average daily weight gain in buffaloes supplemented with cottonseed cake meal or foliage of Sesbania grandiflora  plus urea


The relationships for the combined  data are in Figure 3. 


Figure 3. Relationship between N retention (g/day) and average daily weight gain in buffaloes
and cattle supplemented with cottonseed meal or foliage of  Sesbania grandiflora plus urea.


The regression coefficients relating live weight gain to N retention did not differ between cattle and buffaloes (Table 4).


Table 4.  Test of differences between regression coefficients relating LW gain to  N retention for cattle and buffaloes

Regression coefficients

SEM

"t" value (df=9)

 Buffaloes

Cattle

C-B

Observed

P=0.05

13.3

15.1

1.8

8.97

0.2

2.4


Discussion

 

The higher values, in buffaloes versus cattle, for DM and NDF apparent digestibility, and the tendency (P = 0.16) for it to be higher for crude protein, is in agreement with other reports in the literature (Wanapat 1984; Hussain and Cheeke 1996). The higher apparent crude protein digestibility for the higher level of crude protein supplementation is to be expected as the endogenous secretions of N are a smaller proportion of indigestible faecal N when N intakes are higher. 

 

The higher live weight gain in the buffaloes is consistent with the higher values of N retention, as compared with the cattle (Table 3). The initial live weights were greater for the buffaloes (226 kg) than for the cattle (145 kg); however, the ages, and therefore the stages of maturity, were similar. A more important factor is the genetic potential for growth and in this respect the Swamp buffalo in Vietnam has much larger mature live weight, and therefore greater growth potential, than the “Yellow” breed of local cattle. This seems a more likely explanation for the higher growth rates of the buffaloes in the present study, than any intrinsic superiority at the level of digestion or metabolism.  Some support for this explanation is the similarity between cattle and buffaloes in intake and excretion rates for N when these values are expressed as a function of metabolic live weight (Table 5).


Table 5.  Mean values for N balance in cattle compared to buffaloes, adjusted to the same metabolic live weight LW0.75.

N balance, g/d# 

Cattle

Buffalo

SEM

Prob.

Intake

51.1

53.9

1.37

0.24

Faeces

18.9

19.6

0.60

0.52

Urine

14.9

17.7

0.89

0.075

Retention

17.3

16.6

1.52

0.8

# Adjustd for differences in LW0.75


In fact there was an indication (P=0.075) that urinary N excretion was higher for the buffaloes.
 

 

Conclusions and recommendations

 

Acknowledgements

 

Many thanks specifically to Mr. Nguyen Van Liem, Mr Giang, Mr Chuyen, Mrs Linh and Mrs Dan Thanh. Financial support of this work was provided by MEKARN project. The authors would like to thank the Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agriculture, Cantho University, Vietnam and the Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish Agricultural Sciences, Sweden for use of their facilities.
 

References

AOAC 1990 Official Methods of Analysis. 13th edition. Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Washington, DC.

 

Hussain  I and Cheeke P  R 1996  Evaluation of animal ryegrass straw: corn juice silage with cattle and water buffalo: digestibility on cattle v. buffalo, and growth performance and subsequent lactational performance of Holstein heifers. Animal Feed Science and Technology 57: 195-202

 

Ligda D J 1998 The water buffalo.  http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/djligda/wbfacts.htm

 

McDonald  P, Edwards  R  A, Greenhagh J F D and Morgan C  A  1998 Digestibility. Evaluation of food. In Animal Nutrition. Fifth edition Addison Wesley Longman, UK, pp. 221-237

Preston T R and Leng R A 1987. Matching ruminant production systems with available resources in tropics and subtropics. PENAMBUL Book Ltd. Armidale. NSW. Australia.

Thu N V 2005 A study of performance, physiological parameters and economic efficiency of working buffaloes in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Unpublished manuscript.

 

Van Soest PJ, Robertson J B and Lewis B A 1991 Method for dietary fiber, neutral detergent fiber and non-starch polysaccharide in relation to animal nutrition. Journal of  Dairy Science 74: 3583-3597  http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/74/10/3583.pdf

 

Wanapat  M  2001  Swamp Buffalo Rumen Ecology and Its Manipulation. Paper presented at National workshop on swamp buffalo development - Hanoi 16-17/12/2001 http://www.mekarn.org/procbuf/wanapat.htm

 

Wanapat  M  1984  Comparative dry matter degradation of intact leaf protein sources in fistulated rumen of cattle and buffalo fed untreated or urea-treated rice straw. 1984 Annual Report, The National Buffalo Research and Development Center, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. pp 17–20.

 


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