It is important that venison competes with other red meats in efficiency and cost of production. The growth responses of farmed red deer during the first 15-18 months of life have been well defined under a wide range of feeding and daylength regimes (Davies, 1995). However there is a need to examine less intensive systems of production which aim to maximise growth from grazed grass, following various growth-restriction feeding regimes during winter. The objective of this experiment was to quantify the growth response in 16-24 month old hinds fed two contrasting feeding regimes during their second winter, followed by a period at pasture.

In southern Spain the manufacture of goats milk cheese represents a large proportion of total the dairy production. Throughout the whole of Andalucia and the Malaga province the Malagueña breed of goat is of particular importance, due to its ability to produce high milk yields with a high protein content.

The proportion of casein in milk is one of the most important factors determining the quantity and quality of cheese which can be made from that milk. It is therefore essential to be able to rapidly measure the milk casein levels prior to commencing the expensive process of cheese making.

It is recognised that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are important components of a healthy human diet. There is, therefore, considerable interest in manipulating animal tissue fatty acid composition to enhance n-3 PUFA intakes. Linseed is a rich source of the n-3 fatty acid, linolenic acid (C18:3n-3). When whole linseed (WL) is included in poultry diets this fatty acid can be incorporated into tissue lipids and may also serve as a precursor for the synthesis of longer chain C20 and C22 n-3 PUFA in chicken tissues. To counteract the increased susceptibility of PUFA-enriched tissues to peroxidation, α-tocopherol acetate (ATA) supplementation of the diet may be required. In this study the effect of WL and supplementary ATA on broiler growth performance and leg and breast muscle fatty acid profiles and lipid peroxidation were studied

The efficacy of inoculant silage additives has often been questioned under difficult ensiling conditions. This study was conducted under testing conditions to test the efficacy of an inoculant additive (SA55) on silage fermentation and animal performance.

A perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) based sward was mown and conditioned on 29 October 1996 and was picked up on 30 and 31 October. Two similar precision-chop forage harvesters were used, one picked up grass without applying additive (Control), whilst the second applied the inoculant additive (SA55). SA55 (Microferm Ltd) was applied at a target rate of 2 1/t to give 5 x 105 organisms (Lactobacillus plantarum, Paediococcus acidilactici, Lactococcus lactis lactis and clostridial bacteriophages) per gramme of grass. The harvesters picked up adjacent swaths and dedicated trailers serviced each harvester. Frequent checks were made on the application rate of the additive. Two similar, roofed bunker silos were loaded with grass, using loaders dedicated to each silo. Loads of grass were tipped in their respective silos to avoid Cross contamination during the filling operation. Care was taken to ensure equal consolidation of both clamps. After consolidation, clamps were sealed with polythene sheeting and weighted down with tyres. Each load of grass was weighed and sampled.

Previous work conducted with whole crop wheat (WCW) as a forage for dairy cattle has focussed on harvesting the crop at a relatively mature stage and the addition of urea to act as a preservative (e.g. Cammell et al., 1996). Fermented WCW has the potential of being an important complementary forage to grass silage for dairy cows but avoids the addition of large quantities of nitrogen to the crop at ensiling required for urea treatment. However, little work has been conducted to evaluate the effects of stage of maturity of whole crop wheat on subsequent animal performance. The objectives of the current experiment were to examine the effects of stage of maturity of fermented WCW on milk production, liveweight and blood metabolite concentrations of dairy cows.

The winter wheat variety Hunter was grown as a conventional cereal crop and cut at two stages of maturity. The first cut (low starch) was when the crop was approximately 300g/kg dry matter (DM) and Zadoks growth stage 71 (watery ripe) and the second (high starch) at approximately 370g/kg DM and growth stage 85 (soft dough).

Interest in the use of whole crop cereals as a complementary forage for dairy cows has developed in Europe over the last fifteen years. Initial studies in the UK concluded that near maximum dry matter (DM) yield/ha of whole crop wheat (WCW) occurred in late July/early August when crops contained at least 500 g/kg DM. However, it was noted that when these crops were ensiled they tended to be aerobically unstable. To minimise this problem it was recommended that these crops were preserved with urea rather than being ensiled. Early studies with dairy cows demonstrated that the use of both urea-treated and low DM fermented WCW increased forage intake and milk yield but effects on milk composition were inconsistent (Leaver and Hill, 1992, Phipps et al., 1995). Concern has been expressed that the use of urea in crop preservation was environmentally unacceptable and that high DM fermented WCW offered a possible alternative, which would provide high DM yields/ha of a starch-rich crop. The objective of the current study was to examine the effect of crop maturity on feed intake and milk production of dairy cows. An additional treatment was included to examine the effectiveness of an additive containing L. buchneri designed to improve aerobic stability.

The choice of optimal stage of maturity at harvest for whole-crop wheat remains controversial. Problems of aerobic stability with crops harvested and ensiled at an early stage led to increased interest in harvesting at a later stage and preserving the crop with urea. However recent studies have shown low starch and fibre digestibility with such crops when fed to lactating dairy cows (Sutton et al.,1991). The purpose of the present work was to determine the effect of harvesting wheat at three stages of maturity on the in situ degradability of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and starch.

Dry matter (DM) concentration of maize silage is directly related to maturity of the crop at harvest and widely reported to be positively correlated with total forage DM intake. The objective of this experiment was to investigate these effects using a late maturing beef genotype and a contemporary forage maize variety.

Forage maize (variety Hudson) was harvested at four different stages of maturity during September and October 1996. Each stage of maturity was ensiled in a separate clamp with no additive. Resultant silage corrected dry matter contents were 247 (L), 305 (M/L), 331(M/H) and 388 (H)g/kgFW, respectively. Each diet was formulated to be isonitrogenous with fishmeal fed twice daily on top of the silage. Silage was offered ad libitum to 32 growing Simmental X Friesian heifers (mean initial weight 217kg), housed in individual pens in an open-sided Dutch barn and bedded on wheat straw. Eight animals were allocated to each treatment, in a completely randomised design with pre-treatment intake (non-experimental maize silage) used as a covariate in the statistical analysis.

Good quality maize silage with a high starch content and DM digestibility when fed to dairy cows increased forage intake, milk production and milk protein concentration compared with grass silage or low starch maize silage (Fitzgerald, 1997). Due to the low crude protein (CP) content of maize silage compared with grass silage, additional protein supplementation is required in the concentrate. The optimum level of protein in the concentrate for maize silage based forages differing in starch content was investigated in this study.

Three forages consisting of either all grass silage (GS) or mixed forages of grass silage and maize silage (40:60 DM mix) which contained either a low (LSM) or a high (HSM) starch content were offered ad libitum to individually fed dairy cows in early lactation (12 cows/forage). Each forage was supplemented with concentrates (6 kg/day) containing 180, 230 or 280 g CP/kg according to a change over design (3 periods of 3 weeks/period).

Increasing importance of home grown proteins has resulted in a renewed interest in grass-clover mixed swards. The objective of this experiment was to asses the effect of wilting on effluent production levels, polluting potential of the silage effluent, and silage quality in grass and grass-clover mixed swards.

Perennial rye grass (G) and a grass clover mixed sward (0.75 perennial ryegrass, 0.25 white clover, GC) was cut in mid may. The G and GC was then precision chopped and ensiled in experimental silos at 0, 24 and 48 hours following cutting, with 5 replicate silos of each silage being made at each time period. The silage effluent was collected, the quantity produced was recorded and the biochemical oxygen demand and the chemical oxygen demand was measured. The silage was allowed to ferment followed by which the silage was sub-samples and composite samples 3 of each silage were analyzed for dry matter content, crude protein levels, neutral detergent fibre, water soluble carbohydrate, pH, lactic acid, acetic acid, proprionc acid, butyric acid, total volatile acid levels. The data were analyzed using the general linear model ANOVA in Minitab.

Wilting of grass prior to ensiling has been widely adopted as a means of improving the fermentation quality of silage. However, the effects on intake have been variable. For example, with growing cattle, Rohr and Thomas (1984) reported that wilting increased silage dry matter (DM) intake by 0.09, while Steen (1984) reported an increase of 0.18. Similarly with lactating cattle, Rohr and Thomas (1984) reported and increase in intake in response to wilting of 0.04, while Patterson, Yan, Gordon and Kilpatrick (1997) observed an increase of 0.20. However, a range of additives were used in these studies and it is suggested that this may have caused variation in the fermentation quality of the unwilted silages which in turn may have affected the response to wilting. Consequently an experiment was designed to determine if the variability in the intake responses to wilting could be explained by differences in the fermentation characteristics of the unwilted silage.

There are few reports on the occurrence and amounts of peptide-N in silage. Previous studies (Nsereko and Rooke, 1993, 1996) have quantified the amounts of peptide-N in grass silage and how peptide-N can be modified by additive treatment. However, peptide N concentrations determined using fluorescamine were observed to be considerably higher than those measured by amino acid analysis (Nsereko, 1996). It was the objective of this study to compare methods for the analysis of peptide-N.

Triplicate silages treated with no additive, formic acid (5.4 g/kg) or formic acid (2.7 g/kg) and formaldehyde (3.75 g/kg) (Nsereko and Rooke, 1993) were used in an initial study to compare three methods of peptide analysis. Aqueous extracts were prepared from the silages which were deproteinised with trichloracetic acid.

A major problem with grass is that during ensilage the proteins are degraded and nitrogen lost as non protein nitrogen. In the animal a disadvantage of grass silage is that the proteinaceous nitrogen is readily degraded in the rumen to ammonia. There is considerable evidence in the literature indicating that ruminal undegradable protein is a desirable component of some feeds (AFRC, 1993). This is valuable since proteins that by-pass the rumen may be digested in the intestine and the resultant amino acids absorbed. Tannins have been identified by other workers as suitable for the protection of protein in the rumen. However, there is some dubiety regarding the subsequent efficient release of protein in the intestine (McNabb et al., 1993). The effect of quebracho or mimosa tannins or formaldehyde or a combination of tannin/formate or formaldehyde/formate on silage total tract disappearance of dry matter (DM), nitrogen and total amino acids (TAA) was examined in this study.

The gross energy of any pig feed is not completely available to the animal with losses occurring in faeces, urine, methane and heat. The NE system of feed evaluation should be more accurate in predicting animal performance since it takes into account these energy losses and the metabolic utilisation of energy. The NE system ascribes a relatively higher value to energy from fat and a lower value to energy from protein sources than the DE system. One method of deriving NE is to multiply DE by a factor of 0.71 (Noblet, 1996a). A wide range of more complex NE systems are currently in use involving individual feed ingredient data collected at various European research centres. This study was designed to compare a range of NE systems with data obtained from slaughter balance studies on 8-12 week old pigs using a range of diets for growing pigs differing in CP and DE levels.

Reproductive performance of gilts/sows can be influenced by metabolic state at crucial points in the reproductive cycle and indeed at a crucial age. It has generally been found that moderate to severe protein restriction has no effect on litter size or embryo survival at day 28 (Pharazyn et al, 1991) when given to gilts over the gestation period. However protein quality and quantity can affect reproductive performance in gilts when imposed over the prepubertal period as indicated previously by lower ovulation rate at an induced puberty and poorer expression of a second oestrus (Cia et al, 1996). In the present experiment the effects of two diets differing in lysine:energy ratio on body composition and subsequent oestrus response, ovulation rate and early embryo development in gilts of two different ages were studied.

A previous study (Rooke et al, 1997) showed that in normal commercial feeding conditions there were large differences between litters in live-weight gain at weaning and in immune response to inclusion of soyabean meal. The current experiment attempted to separate these maternal influences into pre- and post-partum effects and investigated whether maternal diet fatty acid composition influenced piglet performance.

Five groups of 6 sows (Large White x Landrace) were used. At weaning, sows were grouped into threes by live-weight and backfat thickness and allocated to one of three diets which were fed throughout pregnancy and lactation. Pregnancy and lactation diets were formulated to supply 12.5 and 14.0 MJ DE, 140 and 180 g CP and 4.5 and 8.5 g lysine / kg. Pregnancy diets contained 17.5 g/kg of either maize oil (M), linseed + maize oil (60:40 ratio, L) or fish oil (Tuna Orbital Oil, Scotia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, F) and lactation diets 35 g/kg oil (17.5 g maize oil + amounts in gestation diets). Six groups of 3 sows participated in a cross-fostering study. All sows were induced to farrow on day 113 or 114 of gestation. Piglets were removed from the sow until farrowing was complete to avoid colostrum consumption. Nine piglets / sow were chosen for cross-fostering from each group of 3 sows (1/diet). Piglets were grouped into threes by weight and allocated to each of the 3 sows. The piglets were reared on the sows with no access to creep feed until weaning at 28 days of age. At weaning the piglets were kept in their lactation sow groups and fed a common diet (16.3 MJ DE, 240 g CP , 15.5 g lysine / kg) based on cooked cereals, milk products and containing 150 g / kg soya bean meal for 7 days. Piglets were weighed at birth and weekly thereafter. The data were analysed using the REML procedure of Genstat to quantify variance relating to sow effects (during pregnancy and lactation) and of pregnancy and lactation diets.

Different inert markers have been employed in nutritional studies, (Kotb and Luckey, 1972). The most commonly found marker in studies involving pigs is chromic oxide (Low, 1982) although it is now apparent that many problems are associated with its use. Other metal oxides, particularly titanium dioxide, may prove to be superior alternatives but further validation of their use as markers is required, (Kotb and Luckey, 1972). In an evaluation of inert markers, (Jagger et al. 1992) it was found that, for the determination of ileal and faecal apparent digestibility values in the pig, titanium dioxide at a rate of lg/kg feed was the most suitable of those tested. However, this conclusion was drawn from results obtained from one dietary treatment only. A crucial assumption of the use of inert markers is that they move in phase with the digesta which might not be the case if components vary widely in physical characteristics, leading possibly to differential adsorption of marker. Accordingly the objective of the current experiment was an evaluation of titanium dioxide in diets representing likely extremes of levels of fat or fibrous raw materials.

An adequate intake of colostrum by the newborn piglet allows the piglet to acquire passive immunity and develop active immunity. However there is relatively little information on the composition of colostrum from sows of modern genotypes. The purpose of the study was therefore to investigate the changes in IgG concentration of colostrum and the uptake of colostrum by piglets.

A total of 9 muciparous sows (Newsham - Large White x Landrace) were observed whilst farrowing naturally. Colostrum was sampled, without using oxytocin, at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 h post partum from the anterior, middle and rear thirds of the udder and frozen at -20 °C. Colostrum intake was measured as soon as piglets began to suckle after being born, by removing three piglets/sow from the sow and weighing the piglets before and after a period of suckling, the mean weight change over eight consecutive weighings (corrected for urinary losses) being taken as colostrum intake. Piglets were observed to determine on which udder section the piglet was suckling. IgG concentration was measured using an ELISA technique (Varley et al, 1985). Statistical analysis was carried out using analysis of variance.

Relationships between sow nutrition, milk yield, milk composition and piglet performance during lactation have been studied in numerous experiments. However, the subsequent effects of these pre-weaning factors on post-weaning piglet performance are less well studied. Commonly a growth check in piglets in response to weaning is noted, but to date it is unknown why some piglets do better than others in this period. The present experiment explored some of the pre-weaning factors that could explain the variability in piglet post-weaning growth.

The performance of piglets from 41 litters was monitored during a lactation period of 26 days. Litter size was standardised to 10 piglets, which were not offered creep food. Piglets were weighed individually on a weekly basis from farrowing to weaning at 26 days. Daily litter milk intake was estimated by a weigh-suckle-weigh technique in 24 litters on 4 occasions at 5 day intervals across lactation. On the day after each of these days, the composition of milk was determined from milk samples obtained by hand milking following oxytocin injection. Litter milk intake and composition of milk were used to calculate the mean daily piglet nutrient intakes during lactation. After weaning some piglets were sacrificed for the analysis of body composition and 310 piglets out of the 41 litters were penned in litter groups in controlled environment flat decks for two weeks to monitor daily group feed intakes and weekly individual growth rates.

The efficacy of milk products for improving growth performance in nursery pigs is well documented (Krider et al., 1949 and Graham et al., 1991). Mahan (1993) suggested that if a source of highly digestible protein and crystalline lactose was added to diets for newly weaned piglets, then traditional milk products (dried whey and skim milk) could be excluded. Crystalline lactose has found its way into many nursery diets manufactured in the USA, nowadays. A co-product of whey protein purification, crystalline lactose is a cheap source of milk sugar compared to most milk products. However, if price or availability necessitates the replacement of milk products, the same problem generally applies to crystalline lactose. Sucrose long has been suggested as an energy source and appetite enhancer when used in nursery diets. The same is true for molasses, although high dietary concentrations are not generally recommended. Both ingredients are rich sources of highly digestible simple sugars (glucose and fructose) and are readily accessible throughout much of the world. The objectives of the experiments reported herein were to determine the effects of replacing lactose with sucrose and a cane molasses product on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in nursery piglets.