Tra fish oil supplementation and fermented total mixed ration effecting on growth performance fattening cattle

Nguyen Van Thu and Nguyen Thi Kim Dong¹

College of Agriculture, Can Tho University, Vietnam
¹ College of Applied Biology, Tay Do University, Vietnam

Abstract

This experiment with crossbred beef cattle to evaluate rice straw versus Elephant grass as source of forage and of presenting the diet as a fermented total mixed feed (FMTR) and as plus 3% Tra fish oil was implemented.

Twelve crossbred cattle (Brahman x Zebu) of 352 ± 2.96 kg were arranged in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 3 replications and a feeding period of 90 days.

Tra fish oil and fermented total mixed ration were the main treatments Elephant grass (EG) versus rice straw as a source of forage and balance the concentrate which was fed separately or as a fermented total mixed feed (FMTR)

EG: Elephant grass + concentrate; RC: Rice straw + concentrate; FMTR Fermented mixed Elephant grass + concentrate; RCO: Rice straw + concentrate + 3% Tra fish oil

The growth rate was improved by 43% and feed conversion by 26% when rice straw placed Elephant grass as the source of fiber in the diet. Fermenting and offering the complete feed as a mixture (FTMR) led to a 10% reduction in feed intake by 10% with a similar order of increase in weight gain and improved feed conversion; however, the dietary modification that had the most impact on growth and feed conversion was the addition of 3% Tra fish oil, which supported 30% better growth rate and 15% better feed conversion than the diet without the Tra fish oil. It is proposed that these major improvements in beef cattle performance were the direct result of the fish oil in reducing rumen methane production as reported in our earlier paper (Thu N V and Dong N T K 2021).

Key words: beef production, climate change, fermentation, lipid supplement, ruminants

Introduction

There are many promising results from in vitro studies showing that methane emissions from ruminants can be reduced by modification of the rumen fermentation with additives such as fish oils (Thu N V and Dong N T K 2021) and byproducts from yeast fermentation of rice to produce rice wine (Sangkhom et al 2017). However, these promising results should be successfully expressed in terms of growth rate, milk production and feed conversion in systems that can be applied by farmers.

Tra fish oil as an additive source was shown to reduce methane production of cattle in vitro and in vivo studies at a level of 3% in the diet (Thu N V and Dong N T K 2021). The feedings of fermented, totally mixed feeds have also been reported to reduce methane production (Yuangklang et al 2011; Sakai et al 2015).

A large amount of oil is produced from Tra fish (Pangasius hypothalamus processing for exportation that could be used as the additive source for beef cattle Production of Tra fish production being about 5,400 ha and 1.42 million tons in 2018 in the Mekong delta of Vietnam (Vasep 2019).

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Tra fish oil as a supplement in a commercial system of fattening beef cattle with feeds commonly available in the Mekong Delta.

Materials and method

Location and time

The experiment was carried out at the experimental farm located in PhongDien district of Can ThoCity of Vietnam. The chemical analysis of feeds was done at the Laboratory E205 of the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture of Can Tho University. The implementation of this study was from October to December 2020.

Experimental design

Twelve crossbred cattle (Brahman x crossbred Zebu) of 352±2.96kg were arranged in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 3 replications. Each animal was experimental unit. The experimental fattening period was 3 months.

The treatments were:

EG: Elephant grass + concentrate

RC: Rice straw + concentrate

FMTR Fermented mixed Elephant grass + concentrate

RCFO: Rice straw + concentrate + 3% Tra fish oil

The rice straw and Elephant grass were fed ad libitum. The concentrate contained: 30.0 % broken rice, 27.0 % rice bran, 10.0 % soybean meal, 29.5 % coconut cake meal, 2% bone meal, 1% salt and 0.5% premix vitamin – minerals) and was fed separately from rice straw at a level of 0.68% of LW (DM basis).

The FMTR was made by Elephant grass  and concentrate, at the same level as in RC and RCFO (DM basis), then it was incubated for 7 days prior to feedings it to the cattle. The Tra fish oil level was added to the FMTR at the level of 3% (DM basis) by mixing with rice straw and concentrate before feeding. The Tra fish oil product was bought at the Animal Feeds Company in Dong Thap Province, Vietnam. It was collected from the extraction from raw Catfish oil to be as described by N V Thu and Dong N T K 2021.

The experimental animals were fed 3 times per day at 8:00 h, 11:00 h and at 17:00 h. Freshwater was supplied freely for cattle throughout the experiment.

Measurements

Chemical composition of feeds and refusals was done according to (AOAC 1990). NDF and ADF were analyzed by methods of Van Soest et al (1991). Live weight was determined at the beginning and at the end of the experiment (90 days) by using the electrical scale (Tru-Test, Limited Auckland, Newzealand).

Statistical analysis

The data were firstly calculated by Excel program, and then were analyzed variance using the One-way model of Minitab version 16.2.0. To compare difference between mean values of treatments the Tukey’s test was used (Minitab, 2010).

Results and discussion

Chemical composition and feed intake

Growth, feed conversion

The growth rate was improved by 43% and feed conversion by 26% when rice straw placed Elephant grass as the source of fiber in the diet. This supports the proposal of Leng (2015) the rice straw fiber is an excellent support system for biofilms that facilitate synergistic activities of microorganisms with their substrate, fermenting and offering the complete feed as a mixture (FMTR) led to a 10% reduction in feed intake by 10% with a similar order of increase in weight gain and improved feed conversion; however, the dietary modification that had the most impacts on growth and feed conversion was the addition of 3% Tra fish oil, which supported 30% better growth rate and 15% better feed conversion than the diet without the Tra fish oil.

It is suggested that the improvements in growth rate and feed conversion were due to the effect of the oil in reducing rumen methane production (Thu N V and Dong N T K 2021) with concomitant increases in the proportion of propionic acid in the rumen VFA (Preston et al 2021).

Figure 1. Feed intake of beef cattle fed concentrates supplemented with Elephant grass (EG) or rice straw (RC) as a l fermented and mixed feed (FMTR) or rice straw and concentrates + 3% Tra fish oil	Figure 2. Growth rate of beef cattle fed concentrates supplemented with Elephant grass (EG) or rice straw (RC) as a total fermented and mixed feed (FMTR) or rice straw and concentrates + 3% Tra fish oil

Figure 3. Feed conversion rate of beef cattle fed concentrates supplemented with Elephant grass (EG) or rice straw (RC) as a total fermented and mixed feed (FMTR) or rice straw and concentrates + 3% Tra fish oil

Conclusion

Supplementing a diet of rice straw and concentrates with 3% of Tra fish oil led to improvements in growth rate of 43% (from 811 to 1100 g/d) and to 26% in feed conversion from 7.3 to 6.3. It is proposed that these major improvements in beef cattle performance were the were the direct result of the fish oil in reducing rumen methane.

Acknowledgement

This research is funded in part by the Can Tho University Improvement Project VN14-P6, supported by a Japanese ODA loan. The Authors also thank to the JIRCAS project and Dept. of Animal Sciences of College of Agriculture, Can Tho University for facilitating the equipments used and laboratory works.

References

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