Growth performance of growing lambs fed on pine sawdust

Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2014) 14: 153-159

Growth Performance of Growing Lambs Fed on Pine (Pinnus patula) Sawdust as Basal Diet Supplemented with Monensin Sodium C.E. Guerra-Medina1, L.G. Medina-Torres1, O.D. Montañez-Valdez*, M. Pérez-Sato2 and A. Ley de Coss3 Departamento de Desarrollo Regional Centro Universitario del Sur Universidad de Guadalajara, Zapotlán El Grande. Jalisco, México (Received January 08, 2013)

ABSTRACT Guerra-Medina, C.E., Medina-Torres, L.G., Montañez-Valdez, O.D., Pérez-Sato, M. and Ley de Coss, A. 2014. Growth performance of growing lambs fed on pine (Pinnus patula) sawdust as basal diet supplemented with monensin sodium. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 14: 153-159.

In order to evaluate the effect of including monensin sodium in a diet of 15% pine sawdust for lambs in feedlots, two treatments in five experimental periods of seven days each were used. The treatments were- Control: basal diet of 15% pine sawdust, M: control diet supplemented with 15 g/ton of monensin sodium. Average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), feed conversion (FC), rumen pH and cost of feed were measured. Treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with seven replicates per treatment. The ADG, FC, rumen pH and feed costs did not differ (P>0.05), while the DMI was reduced in lambs fed the M (P>0.05) diet. There were no metabolic problems such as acute rumen acidosis or diarrhea in any treatment. The results suggest that pine sawdust may be used an alternative source of fiber in diets for lambs in feedlots and monensin may be included in feedlot lambs production to decrease DMI without affecting ADG. Key words: Feedlot, Fiber, Lambs, Monensin, Sawdust.

INTRODUCTION In the feeding management of lambs for meat production, forages typically contribute to 10 to 30% of the total diet; forages are basically added keeping in view the fiber needed to maintain rumen function and prevent gastrointestinal tract or liver *Corresponding author: montanez77@hotmail.com 1 División de Desarrollo Regional, Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur, Universidad de Guadalajara, Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, México.

2 Unidad Académica de Ingeniería Agrohidráulica, Plantel de Ingeniería Agronómica y Zootecnia, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, México.

3 Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Huehuetán. Chiapas, México.

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disorders (Mertens, 1997). In Mexico, an increase in intensive meat production systems has caused the shortage of forages such as corn stubble, oat straw, wheat, and barely. In addition, these products are not available throughout the year, being scarce during the rainy season causing a considerable increase in cost. Several investigations have been carried out during 1960-70 to explore the possibility to include alternative sources of fiber in diets for ruminants. Some of these alternative sources were sheaths of rice (White and Reynolds, 1969), paper (Hansen et al., 1969), newspaper (Daniels et al., 1970), oak sawdust (Quercus ilex; El-Sabban et al., 1972) or pine sawdust (Pinnus patula; Slyter and Kamstra, 1974). These studies reported that including up to 15% pine sawdust in cattle diet did not affect feed intake; however, inclusion at higher levels reduced the consumption and production efficiency of animals. In a recent study of Guerra et al. (2010), 30% of pine sawdust was included in diets for fattening lambs in confinement and no differences were found in feed consumption with respect to the control treatment which included 30% of corn stubble. Pine sawdust may be an alternative source of fiber in diets for lambs in feedlots; however, generally the particle size is less than 2 mm, affecting chewing time and rumination with the possibility of rumen acidosis. To reduce the effect of rumen acidosis dietary compounds such as ionophores, can be added to control lactic acid bacteria growth and lowered feed intake and improve production (Wallace, 1994). Monensin has been used widely to control rumen bacteria that produce lactic acid to improve feed conversion (Chow et al., 1994). Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of including monensin sodium to a diet for lambs in feedlot, with 15% pine sawdust as a source of fiber on productive performance of lambs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Fourteen male lambs (Catahdin Ă— Dorper) were used (28.4Âą2.36 kg BW), and housed in individual cages of 1.6 x 1.2 m equipped with individual feeders and drinkers. Before the experimental period the animals were treated against internal and external parasites, using 10 mg of Ivermectin subcutaneously and 0.5 ml of an intramuscular vitamin complex (each mL containing 300,000 IU vitamin A, 45,000 IU vitamin D, and 150 mg vitamin E). Seven lambs were randomly assigned to each of the two dietary treatments, viz. Control: basal diet with 15% pine sawdust and M: control diet supplemented with monensin sodium (15 g/ton). The lambs were provided diets ad libitum twice daily at 8:00 h and 16:00 h throughout the experiment. The duration of the experiment was 45 d, with 10 d of adaptation to the experimental diet and subsequently data collection was performed seven days at five periods. Diets were formulated with the computer program Used Feed Formulation Done Again (UFFDA:Pesti and Miller, 1993), for intact male lambs with an initial average weight of 20-25 kg and expected average dairy gain (ADG) of 300g, according to the NRC (2007; Table 1). To measure the growth, each lamb was weighed in the morning before feeding, initially, after 10d and thereafter every 7d for five periods.

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Monensin in the diet of lambs fed pine sawdust Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition (g/kg) of experimental diets offered to lamb in feedlots Treatments Ingredient Ingredient composition (g/kg) Soybean meal

Control

Monensin (M)

80

80

Whole sorghum

350

350

Ground corn

313

313

Molasses

50

50

Corn oil

20

20

Urea

12

12

Pine sawdust

150

150

Salt

5

5

Mineral mix*

20

20

Monensin sodium (g/ton)

0

15

Chemical composition (% DM) Dry matter

86.08

86.74

Crude protein

13.02

13.91

NDF

40.78

42.90

ADF

32.53

34.02

Ash

5.48

6.03

*Each 100g contains: sodium 9.6 g, chorine 14.4 g, calcium 21.14 g, sulfur 5.2 g, magnesium 0.8 g, zinc 0.42 g, manganese 0.26 g, cobalt 10.0 mg, iodine 4.64 mg, selenium 0.4 mg.

The dry matter intake (DMI) was individually estimated by the difference in weight between the feed offered and rejected 24h later. Feed conversion (FC) was calculated (DMI/ADG) for each period. To measure rumen pH, 200 ml of rumen liquor were obtained from each animal from the middle ventral rumen by gavage, four hours after offering the feed in the morning; the liquid was filtered with a cloth to avoid excessive passage of feed particles and the pH was measured with a portable potentiometer (Orion 210, Orion Research Corp., Boston, Massachusetts, USA). The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a completely randomized design, using seven replicates per treatment. Descriptive statistics were used as the mean and standard error. The analysis was done using PROG GLM and means were compared using the Tukey procedure (SAS, 2001).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results from this study indicate that there was no difference in ADG between treatments (P>0.05), suggesting that the inclusion of monensin to the diet had no effect on this variable. The response obtained in this study is consistent with reports from Bergen and Bates (1984) who reported that in ruminants fed diets 155

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containing high proportion of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates, ionophores did not alter the daily weight gain. In contrast, a review conducted by Pinos and González (2000) on the effects of the use of ionophores in ruminants mentions that rumensin inclusion in cattle rations produced an increase in ADG of 4.3%. The ADG in this study was superior to that found by Rubio et al. (1997; 180g day-1), Purata (1993; 120g day-1), and Martínez (2002; 273g day-1) for rations containing monensin; however, present results are similar to those reported by Rangel and Núñez (1992; 347g day-1).

Lambs fed diet with monensin had 10% lower DMI than lambs fed the control diet (P<0.05). Monensin sodium had an effect on growth performance of ruminants by decrease of DMI, also it has been reported that monensin generally reduces DMI in diets high in grain (Mir and Mir, 1994) whereas in studies with lambs fed 50% concentrate, DMI did not decrease (Candanosa et al., 2002, García et al., 2000). In similar studies, Rubio et al. (1997) found no difference (P>0.05) in feed intake between treatments, which were of 1210 and 1260 g/animal/day, with and without monensin, respectively. It has been reported that the use of monensin depresses DMI and its effect was attributed with either increasing the quantity and quality of nutrients available to the tissue, or promoting the efficiency with which nutrients are incorporated into the growth process and animal production, or both (Suman, 1996; Sumano and Ocampo, 1997). Bergen and Bates (1984) mention that in ruminants fed large amounts of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates, ionophores decrease feed intake but did not affect weight gain, which means better feed conversion. Accordingly, it was expected that lambs fed the diet with monensin had lower feed conversion; however, the results of this investigation did not indicate difference between treatments (P>0.05), despite the fact that DMI was reduced in lambs fed the diet with monensin, and there was no difference in the ADG. Feed conversion observed in both treatments Table 2. Response to monensin sodium inclusion in feedlot diets for sheep on production variables, ruminal pH and feed cost.

Treatments

SEM1

Control

M

Initial BW (kg)

28.50

28.29

1.31

Final BW (kg)

41.36

39.64

1.39

Net gain (kg)

12.86

11.35

0.92

Average daily gain (g) Dry matter intake (kg/d) Feed conversion (DMI/ADG)

367.46

324.54

89.63

1628.53a

1463.63b

177.72

4.71

4.61

0.98

Ruminal pH

6.17

6.22

0.43

Feed cost ($ kg PV-1)*

1.21

1.10

2.54

Different literals in the same row indicate significant difference between treatments (P<0.05). *American dollar, conversion 1:13.80; a,b

Standard error of the mean

1

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Monensin in the diet of lambs fed pine sawdust

in this study was lower than that reported by other authors. In this regard, MartĂ­nez (2002) reported a conversion of 6.22 in lambs, while in another study in which Pelibuey lambs were fed monensin supplemented rations; Purata (1993) reported a feed conversion of 6.62. There are reports of lambs showing feed conversion up to 8.20 (Rubio et al., 1997).

The results of this study show that the addition of monensin to the diet did not affect ruminal pH (P>0.05); however, in both treatments rumen pH was higher than 6.0, and did not affect the response of lambs production parameters which was reflected in an ADG higher than 300g. The use of pine sawdust as a replacement for fibrous sources such as corn stover and cereal straws such as oats, barley, among others could be a good alternative (Guerra et al., 2010); because of its particle size is generally less than 2 mm, rumination time can be limited and therefore the total secretion of saliva per kg DM consumed decreases, which could cause rumen acidosis (Allen, 1997). To maintain balance and maximize the productive response in feedlot lambs, it is important to maintain rumen pH above 6.0; this depends on the balance of the rumen microflora and the relative concentration of major volatile fatty acids (Dirksen, 1969). For that to happen it is necessary to maintain adequate fiber in the diet and also stimulate rumination time with the production of saliva, since the lack of fiber leads to rumen acidosis, diarrhea, laminitis, and displaced abomasum due to physiological and metabolic imbalances (Owens et al., 1998). Also, the addition of ionophores to the diet can be applied to maintain rumen pH above 6.0, because the ionophores exert their direct effect on the metabolism of certain groups of microbial populations in the rumen (Chow et al., 1994).

Pine sawdust is a by product is not being used properly and can be a source of environmental pollution that mainly ground water if used inproperly (Starbuck, 1997). Because of its characteristics it is a by product that can be bought at a low cost ($ 0.02/kg) for inclusion as an alternative source of fiber in diets for fattening lambs. In addition its production remains stable throughout the year. Currently the most common sources of fiber used in lambs fattening are corn stalks, oat straw, wheat and barley; however, these feedstuffs are in short supply causing a considerable increase in cost, reaching a cost up to $ 0.11/kg, along with a steady increase in the price of commodities such as grains and oil seed meals causes the production cost to be high and reduces profitability. In this study the cost of feed to produce one kg of lamb was $ 1.21 and $ 1.10 for the control and treatment with monensin, respectively, so that there was a decrease of 10.5% in lambs feeding cost using a diet supplemented with monensin. One of the important objective in including pine sawdust for lambs in feedlot diets was to reduce production cost, which can be achieved if the DMI and ADG are not affected as it was in this case. The results of this study indicate that pine sawdust may be a good alternative as a substitute for fiber in diets for fattening lambs in that it could help to reduce production costs without affecting production variables.

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It is concluded that the addition of 15 g/ton of monensin sodium in the diet of feedlot lambs did not improve average daily gain, feed conversion, ruminal pH, or the cost of feeding, while the dry matter intake was lower in lambs fed the diet containing monensin sodium.

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