Effects of Replacement of Corn Silage by Fresh-Fed Sorghum Hybrid Sudangrass on Growth Performance,Serum Biochemical Indices and Fecal Microbiota of Simmental Bulls
This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of replacement of corn silage by fresh-fed sorghum hybrid sudangrass on growth performance,serum biochemical indices,fecal microbiota and economic benefits of Simmental bulls.Sixteen Simmental bulls aged 8 months with an average body weight of(338.5±35.3)kg were randomly divided into 2 groups with 8 replicates per group and 1 cattle per replicate.Cattle in the control group(CON group)were fed a basal diet(roughage was corn silage),and those in the sorghum hybrid sudangrass group(SS group)were fed a diet in which sorghum hybrid sudangrass replaced 55％[dry matter(DM)basis]corn silage in the basal diet.The pre-trial period lasted for 10 days and the experimental period lasted for 60 days,which were divided into two stages as days 1 to 30 and days 31 to 60.The results showed as follows:1)compared with CON group,the dry matter intake(DMI)and feed to gain ratio(F/G)in SS group were significantly decreased during days 1 to 30(P＜0.05);DMI in SS group was significantly decreased during days 31 to 60 and days 1 to 60(P＜0.05).2)Compared with CON group,on day 30,the serum urea nitrogen(UN)content in SS group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),and the serum total bili-rubin(TBIL)content was extremely significantly increased(P＜0.01);on day 60,the serum albumin(ALB)content and alanine aminotransferase(ALT)activity in SS group were significantly increased(P＜0.05),and the serum contents of UN and TBIL were extremely significantly increased(P＜0.01).3)There were no significant differences in fecal microbial species and community diversity between two groups(P＞0.05).Compared with CON group,at the phylum level,the fecal Firmicutes relative abundance in SS group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and the fecal Patescibacteria relative was significantly increased(P＜0.05);at the genus level,the relative abundances of fecal Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 and unclassified_Ru-minococcaceae in SS group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05).4)Compared with CON group,the feed cost per kilogram of weight gain in SS group was reduced by 0.97 RMB(P＜0.05).In conclusion,the re-placement of 55％corn silage by fresh-fed sorghum hybrid sudangrass for Simmental bulls can significantly re-duce their DMI and feed cost per kilogram of weight gain,and decrease F/G,while promoting the body's protein metabolism and improving the economic benefits.[Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition,2024,36(9):5748-5760]
万方数据
维普
