Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets

Ruminant productivity in the tropical Africa has remained low despite decades of research on animal nutrition and introduction of new breeds of animals mainly because of low-quality feeds available, especially during the dry season that is inefficiently utilised. This results in prolonged time for a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Korir, Daniel, Goopy, John P., Gachuiri, C., Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus, Eckard, Richard, Anderson, C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75571
_version_ 1855518329181044736
author Korir, Daniel
Goopy, John P.
Gachuiri, C.
Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus
Eckard, Richard
Anderson, C.
author_browse Anderson, C.
Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus
Eckard, Richard
Gachuiri, C.
Goopy, John P.
Korir, Daniel
author_facet Korir, Daniel
Goopy, John P.
Gachuiri, C.
Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus
Eckard, Richard
Anderson, C.
author_sort Korir, Daniel
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Ruminant productivity in the tropical Africa has remained low despite decades of research on animal nutrition and introduction of new breeds of animals mainly because of low-quality feeds available, especially during the dry season that is inefficiently utilised. This results in prolonged time for animals to mature and increased nutrient excretion to the environment. We conducted a study using yearling steers (n = 12, liveweight (LW) = 161.8 ± 10.89 kg) in a 3 × 3 Latin square to evaluate the effect of protein supplementation and supplementation frequency on intake, digestibility, nitrogen (N) retention and microbial N supply in cattle consuming low-protein diets. The steers were maintained on ad libitumwheat straw (DM = 877 ± 5 g/kg, crude protein (CP) = 20.0 ± 1.1 g/kg), with supplemental protein supplied as air-driedCalliandra calothyrsus leaves (DM = 897 ± 3 g/kg, CP = 257.5 ± 4.1 g/kg on a DM basis). Samples of basal diet, supplement, refusals, faecal matter and urine were collected and analysed per treatment. Supplementation increased intakes by the steers (P < 0.001), with no difference between the two supplementation frequencies (P > 0.404). Steers lost bodyweight (P < 0.05) on all treatments, but less so when supplemented. Nitrogen losses was reduced (P < 0.001) with supplementation (–33.3% vs 15.7%, s.e.m. 0.06). The increased N balance in animals receiving supplemented diets indicated that N retention actually improves with increased protein supplementation in animals fed low-protein diets, implying that improving protein supply to animals fed submaintenance diets will not only ameliorate production losses, but will actually decrease non-enteric greenhouse gas production and environmental N losses per animal product unit obtained.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace75571
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
publisherStr Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace755712025-12-08T10:29:22Z Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets Korir, Daniel Goopy, John P. Gachuiri, C. Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus Eckard, Richard Anderson, C. animal feeding cattle food science Ruminant productivity in the tropical Africa has remained low despite decades of research on animal nutrition and introduction of new breeds of animals mainly because of low-quality feeds available, especially during the dry season that is inefficiently utilised. This results in prolonged time for animals to mature and increased nutrient excretion to the environment. We conducted a study using yearling steers (n = 12, liveweight (LW) = 161.8 ± 10.89 kg) in a 3 × 3 Latin square to evaluate the effect of protein supplementation and supplementation frequency on intake, digestibility, nitrogen (N) retention and microbial N supply in cattle consuming low-protein diets. The steers were maintained on ad libitumwheat straw (DM = 877 ± 5 g/kg, crude protein (CP) = 20.0 ± 1.1 g/kg), with supplemental protein supplied as air-driedCalliandra calothyrsus leaves (DM = 897 ± 3 g/kg, CP = 257.5 ± 4.1 g/kg on a DM basis). Samples of basal diet, supplement, refusals, faecal matter and urine were collected and analysed per treatment. Supplementation increased intakes by the steers (P < 0.001), with no difference between the two supplementation frequencies (P > 0.404). Steers lost bodyweight (P < 0.05) on all treatments, but less so when supplemented. Nitrogen losses was reduced (P < 0.001) with supplementation (–33.3% vs 15.7%, s.e.m. 0.06). The increased N balance in animals receiving supplemented diets indicated that N retention actually improves with increased protein supplementation in animals fed low-protein diets, implying that improving protein supply to animals fed submaintenance diets will not only ameliorate production losses, but will actually decrease non-enteric greenhouse gas production and environmental N losses per animal product unit obtained. 2016 2016-06-05T08:50:43Z 2016-06-05T08:50:43Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75571 en Limited Access Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Korir, D., Goopy, J.P., Gachuiri, C., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Eckard, R. and Anderson, C. 2016. Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets. Animal Production Science 56(2/3):619-626.
spellingShingle animal feeding
cattle
food science
Korir, Daniel
Goopy, John P.
Gachuiri, C.
Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus
Eckard, Richard
Anderson, C.
Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets
title Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets
title_full Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets
title_fullStr Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets
title_full_unstemmed Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets
title_short Supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low-protein diets
title_sort supplementation with calliandra calothyrsus improves nitrogen retention in cattle fed low protein diets
topic animal feeding
cattle
food science
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75571
work_keys_str_mv AT korirdaniel supplementationwithcalliandracalothyrsusimprovesnitrogenretentionincattlefedlowproteindiets
AT goopyjohnp supplementationwithcalliandracalothyrsusimprovesnitrogenretentionincattlefedlowproteindiets
AT gachuiric supplementationwithcalliandracalothyrsusimprovesnitrogenretentionincattlefedlowproteindiets
AT butterbachbahlklaus supplementationwithcalliandracalothyrsusimprovesnitrogenretentionincattlefedlowproteindiets
AT eckardrichard supplementationwithcalliandracalothyrsusimprovesnitrogenretentionincattlefedlowproteindiets
AT andersonc supplementationwithcalliandracalothyrsusimprovesnitrogenretentionincattlefedlowproteindiets