A rapid and accurate atomic absorption method for the determination of chromium in faeces samples from pasture experiments using chromic oxide ‘markers’ is described. Of the elements present after ashing and digesting the samples in a phosphoric acid—manganese sulphate—potassium bromate solution silicate, aluminium, calcium and magnesium were found to interfere in the determination. The effects of these interferences were overcome by the addition of calcium to the test solution and by the addition of silicate to the standards, which were prepared in ‘blank’ solutions.The sensitivities of a number of alternate chromium resonance lines relative to that of Cr 3578·7 A. are given. These lines may be used to increase the concentration range of the analysis.The results of a comparison of the atomic absorption method with a chemical method are given.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002185960001546X

The determination of chromic oxide in faeces samples by atomic absorption spectrophotometry

Comparison of metabolizable energy and productive energy determinations with growing chicks.

A theoretically-based model for predicting total digestible nutrient values of forages and concentrates

Forage quality can be assessed in terms of the animal performance that is elicited when the forage is offered to the animal. Animal performance is the product of supply, nutrient and energy concentration, intake, digestibility, and metabolism. Typically, forage quality is measured assuming that the forage is freely available and that deficient nutrients other than protein and energy are provided in a supplement. Of the remaining factors affecting forage quality, intake is the most important one affecting animal performance. Reid (1961) listed the amount of forage eaten as the first factor limiting the usefulness of forage-testing schemes. His list also included the effect of concentrates on the amount of forage eaten, degree of selective feeding, and effect of physical form as important information not provided by the forage testing systems used at that time. Unfortunately, intake, substitution rates, selection, and physical form still are not a part of routine forage evaluation systems in the 1990's. Animal performance depends on the intake of digestible and metabolizable nutrients. Of the variation in digestible dry matter (DDM) or digestible energy (DE) intake among animals and feeds, 60 to 90% is related to differences in intake, whereas only 10 to 40% is related to differences in digestibility (Crampton et al., 1960; Reid, 1961). Intake generally accounts for twice as much variability in DDM intake as does digestibility (Milford, 1960; Ingalls et al., 1965). Milford and Minson (1966) observed that DDM intake is more closely correlated with dry matter intake (DMI) than any other feed or animal characteristic. Similarly, high correlations would occur between DMI and metabolizable (ME) or net energy (NE) intake, and between DMI and overall animal performance when forages are fed. The primary importance of intake in assessing forage quality does not mean that digestibility or metabolizability of nutrients are invariant or unimportant. Metabolizability can vary depending on the amounts and ratios of absorbed nutrients, the individual and interacting biochemical pathways of nutrient conversion and the type of animal production (MacRae et al., 1985; Blaxter, 1989). However, differences in the efficiency of converting DE to ME are small compared to differences in intake and digestibility, and the metabolic conversion of DE to ME or NE is typically considered to be relatively constant within type of production, such as maintenance, growth, pregnancy, or lactation (Moe and Tyrrell, 1976; NRC, 1989). Digestibility of forages is more variable than metabolizability, and feces typically are the greatest loss of ingested nutrients and energy. Extensive research has been devoted to measuring digestibility and relating it to feed characteristics because digestibility can be accurately measured with relative ease compared to DMI. Although intake is more important than digestibility in assessing forage quality, progress in understanding the basic factors that affect intake has been hampered by our inability to measure it accurately and to separate the influences of animal and diet on intake. Thus, we routinely use availability information (DE, ME, andNE)

Regulation of Forage Intake

Antibiotics were discovered over 50 years ago and have since been widely used in the livestock and poultry industries. They represent an extremely important tool in the efficient production of pork, beef, poultry meat, and other animal products. When used at low (subtherapeutic) levels in feeds, antibiotics improve growth rate and efficiency of feed utilization, reduce mortality and morbidity, and improve reproductive performance. Antibiotics are also used at intermediate levels to prevent disease and at high (therapeutic) levels to treat diseases in animals.

L. E. Lloyd

Papers

The use of chromic oxide as an index for determining the digestibility of a diet.

A nutritive value index for forages.

Prediction of the nutritive value index of a forage from in vitro rumen fermentation data.

The calorie value of tdn

The digestibility of ration nutrients by three- vs. seven-week old pigs.