Influence of Concentrates Supplementation On Microbial Activity of Male Goats

Abstract

Ruminants have a unique characteristic to utilize fibrous fodder material through anaerobic fermentation. The rumen of a ruminant animal is a complex, open and self-contained ecosystem where nutrients consumed by the microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa and fungi are digested anaerobically. The rumen located at the beginning of the gastro intestinal tract plays a major role because over 50% of the digestion takes place at the rumen. The feed consumed by ruminant animals is fermented by rumen microbes to volatile fatty acids and microbial biomass that serve as source of energy and protein for the host animal. Microbial activities in the rumen differ according to the type of roughages fed to the animals. Short- chain volatile fatty acids such as acetic, propionic, butyric acids, carbon dioxide, and methane and ammonia nitrogen are the products of fermentation in the rumen. Dry mature pastures provide unbalanced levels of nutrients and subsequently do not create the environment for efficient rumen metabolism and thus do not ensure an efficient utilization of absorbed nutrients. Feed intake and the nutrients absorbed from such diets are insufficient to meet the maintenance requirement of the animal and thus animals are bound to lose weight if they do not receive additional nitrogen and mineral supplements. Supplementation with crude protein, minerals, fermentable carbohydrates provide energy that enhances rumen microbial growth and improve voluntary feed intake despite being fed with low quality roughages. The addition of bypass protein such as sunflower seed cake results in a synergistic effect that could trigger considerable improvement on the average daily gain of ruminants and hence become more efficient in using available nutrients