Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Natural Pastures (natural + pasture)
Selected AbstractsFATTY ACID COMPOSITION AND CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID CONTENT OF COW AND GOAT CHEESES FROM NORTHWEST ARGENTINAJOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 3 2009CARINA P. VAN NIEUWENHOVE ABSTRACT In this study, we evaluated chemical characteristics, fatty acid composition and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of cow and goat cheeses from Northwest Argentina. Similar chemical and fatty acid composition were determined in milk and cheese of both species. Palmitic, oleic and myristic acids were the most abundant fatty acids in dairy products. CLA level averaged 0.85 and 0.96 in milk and 0.76 and 1.04 g/100 g of fatty acids in cheese of cow and goat, respectively. Cis -9,trans -11 was the major isomer present in both species. Significant differences in CLA desaturase activity were observed, showing a value of 0.068 and 0.064 in milk, and 0.077 and 0.071 in cheese of cow and goats, respectively. Good nutritional properties were determined for cheeses of both species, which are fed on natural pasture during spring and summer seasons. Goat's cheese represents a higher source of CLA for human consumers than cow's cheese, offering from 156.6 to 222.6 mg/ 100 g of sample. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The present work shows the fatty acid composition and chemical characteristics of two fresh cheeses manufactured with cow and goat milk. Animals were fed on natural pasture during summer and spring seasons. It is known that pasture increases conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) concentration in milk fat, and the content in cheese is directly related to it. The CLA content of dairy products for the human consumers was analyzed, showing goat cheese with high polyunsaturated fatty acid content, including CLA. Cow and goat fresh cheese offer CLA as many ripening products of different countries, as cheddar or hard cheeses. Lipid composition of food is related to many illnesses, but some compounds are beneficial to human health. The main sources of CLA are milk and cheeses, and in Northwest of Argentina, no data are reported about it, where artisanal cheeses are consumed by the population. Therefore, the atherogenicity index was determined as well. [source] Diet composition, rumen papillation and maintenance of carcass mass in female Norwegian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in winterJOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 1 2000S. D. Mathiesen Abstract The uptake of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from bacterial fermentation of forage in the rumen is enhanced by the presence of papillae which greatly increase the surface area of the mucosa of the rumen. The degree of papillation, expressed as the surface enlargement factor (SEF), seems to be closely related to the level of microbial activity and the rate of production of VFAs in the rumen. In several species of wild ruminants the SEF decreases markedly in winter, apparently in response to a decrease in the quality and availability of forage and also, presumably, in the level of ruminal microbial activity. Contrary to expectation, however, no reduction in the rate of production of VFAs in winter has been detected in semi-domesticated reindeer at natural pasture in northern Norway. We investigated the body mass, the composition and quality of the diet and the morphology of rumen papillae in adult female reindeer free-living at natural pasture. Animals were slaughtered in matched aged groups of nine on four occasions: in autumn (September) and winter (November, February and March). The composition and quality of the diet was determined by morphological and chemical analysis of plant fragments recovered from the rumen. The carcass mass of the animals did not differ significantly between collections. The animals ate vascular plants and lichens from 37 different genera. The composition of the diet varied little between months except for the inclusion of a substantial proportion (25.8% of fragments) of lichens in March. The mean density of rumen papillae increased from 55.6 papillae/cm2 in September to 75.7 papillae/cm2 in March (P < 0.001). All other parameters, including the length and perimeter of the papillae and the SEF of the rumen, were lower in March compared with September. However, the mean SEF increased from 8.8 in February to 10.6 in March (P < 0.05), indicating increased ruminal fermentation in late winter. We propose that the increase in the SEF in March might be associated with the increase in the proportion of lichens in the diet. Lichens are highly digestible in reindeer but do not score highly in conventional analyses of diet quality owing to the unusual chemical structure of the structural carbohydrates of which they are composed. [source] Effects of herbage intake on goat performance in the mediterranean type natural pasturesANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009Basri H. HAKYEMEZ ABSTRACT This study aimed at identifying changes in natural pastures during the grazing season and investigating the effects of these changes on pasture feeding potential for high yielding dairy goats. During the study, 12 dairy goats were grazed on a 1.5 ha natural pasture for three months from April to June in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The goats were fed 0.5 kg/day of concentrate as a supplement during the grazing season. Botanical composition, herbage production and intake, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents of the pasture were determined. Live weight, milk yield, milk dry matter (DM) and fat content of the goats were monitored. The data were analyzed using a linear model, which evaluated the effects of grazing seasons in each year. Based on the three-year average, 87% of pasture was herbaceous plants and the remaining was shrubs in DM basis with Cistus creticus, Quercus ithaburensis, Pistacia atlantica and Asparagus acutifolius being the major shrub species. The herbage yield in June was significantly lower than in other months in all years (P = 0.001). In all experimental years, the CP content of the pasture decreased but the structural carbohydrates increased as the grazing season proceeded. While live weight was not affected by grazing periods except for 2004 (P = 0.001), milk yield significantly decreased with advancing grazing period (P = 0.001). The results of the present study indicate that natural pasture has a supportive effect in April and May on the milk yield of lactating goats which are in mid-lactation, and suggested that supplementary feeding is required in consecutive grazing periods. [source] Starling foraging success in relation to agricultural land-useECOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2002Ola Olsson Changes in agricultural land-use have been suggested to contribute to the decline of several bird species through negative effects on their food supply during breeding. One important change in land-use has been loss of pastures, especially permanent pastures. In this study we investigated how different forms of agricultural land-use affected foraging success of a declining bird species, the European starling Sturnus vulgaris. We let caged starlings forage in different forms of agricultural fields and determined time spent foraging and foraging success. The starlings' activity level (time spent actively foraging) as well as the number of prey caught per time unit was strongly related to the abundance of prey in soil samples. Also the body mass change during the experiment was positively related to activity level and prey capture rate. We found consistent differences in foraging variables between habitats. In spring sown grain starlings were least active and found fewer prey items at a lower rate than in any other habitat. The other three habitats differed less, but in general mowed hay fields appeared slightly more valuable than the cultivated and natural pastures. We did not find any differences between natural and cultivated pastures in foraging variables. Thus, starling foraging success is higher in grass-covered fields than in cultivated fields, but the management of the grass-covered fields mattered less. The results are consistent with starlings having higher population densities and breeding success in areas with higher availability of pasture. We suggest that the physical structure of the habitat (sward height) and moisture may be additional variables that need to be taken into account to explain starling breeding density and success in the agricultural landscape. [source] Effects of herbage intake on goat performance in the mediterranean type natural pasturesANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009Basri H. HAKYEMEZ ABSTRACT This study aimed at identifying changes in natural pastures during the grazing season and investigating the effects of these changes on pasture feeding potential for high yielding dairy goats. During the study, 12 dairy goats were grazed on a 1.5 ha natural pasture for three months from April to June in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The goats were fed 0.5 kg/day of concentrate as a supplement during the grazing season. Botanical composition, herbage production and intake, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents of the pasture were determined. Live weight, milk yield, milk dry matter (DM) and fat content of the goats were monitored. The data were analyzed using a linear model, which evaluated the effects of grazing seasons in each year. Based on the three-year average, 87% of pasture was herbaceous plants and the remaining was shrubs in DM basis with Cistus creticus, Quercus ithaburensis, Pistacia atlantica and Asparagus acutifolius being the major shrub species. The herbage yield in June was significantly lower than in other months in all years (P = 0.001). In all experimental years, the CP content of the pasture decreased but the structural carbohydrates increased as the grazing season proceeded. While live weight was not affected by grazing periods except for 2004 (P = 0.001), milk yield significantly decreased with advancing grazing period (P = 0.001). The results of the present study indicate that natural pasture has a supportive effect in April and May on the milk yield of lactating goats which are in mid-lactation, and suggested that supplementary feeding is required in consecutive grazing periods. [source] Chemical compositions, feed intakes and digestibilities of crop residue based rations in non-lactating Red Sokoto goats in the subhumid zone of NigeriaANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003Bunmi S. MALAU-ADULI Abstract The present study was conducted to evaluate the chemical composition, intake and digestibility of crop residue based rations by Red Sokoto goats maintained on natural pastures and Digitaria smutsii hay during the dry season of the year. Twenty-eight non-lactating does were blocked for weight and assigned to 7 treatment groups comprising 4 does each in a completely randomized design. Ration A, the conventional concentrate ration, was used as the positive control, Rations B and C were the two crop residue based test rations, while Ration D, the unsupplemented treatment, was used as the negative control. Each of the supplementation rations was fed at 1% and 2% of the doe's body weight. Ration A had the highest crude protein percentage of 17.19% while Rations B and C had 9.54 and 10.38%, respectively. The naturally grazed pastures and Digitaria smutsii hay (Ration D) contained the least protein: 2.76 and 4.75%, respectively. Ration D also had the highest percentages of acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber and lignin (49.14, 74.73 and 9.49% in hay and 50.29, 8.27 and 11.5% in grazed pastures, respectively). Ration A on the other hand, had the lowest percentages of acid detergent fiber (20.00%), neutral detergent fiber (40.01%) and lignin (4.64%). The results indicated that the supplemented group of does had significantly higher (P < 0.05) dry matter and crude protein intakes as well as nutrient digestibilities than the unsupplemented groups. A comparison of the unsupplemented animals with all the other treatment groups revealed that dry matter digestibility improved by a range of 4.1,27.9%, while crude protein digestibility improved by 17.1,42.2%, the highest value being in does on Ration A. It was concluded that goats were able to subsist and make appreciable gains in the long dry season on crop-based diets that compared favorably with the conventional concentrate rations. Of the two tested crop residue based rations, Ration C is a better supplementation package than Ration B. [source] | ||||||||||