Nutrient digestibility and rumen fermentation of Thai native purebred compared with Thai native x Lowline Angus crossbred beef cattle

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition (% of DM) of experimental feeds.

Feed		Nutrient
	DM	OM	CP	EE	NDF	ADF	NFC
Concentrate	87.0	95.0	11.0	3.2	15.0	7.0	65.8
RS	78.4	90.5	2.5	0.6	67.0	44.9	20.4
PH	78.3	94.2	7.0	1.3	70.1	35.9	15.9

Note: DM = dry matter, OM = organic matter, CP = crude protein, EE = ether extract, NDF = neutral detergent fibre, ADF = acid detergent fibre, NFC = non-fibre carbohydrate.

Table 2. Voluntary roughage intake and apparent nutrient digestibility of the diets (%).

Nutrient	Breed^A			SEM	Diet^B				SEM
	TN	TAC	P-value		RS	RS+C	PH	P-value
Roughage intake
kg/d	2.10	2.18	0.10	0.04	2.10	2.20	2.12	0.06	0.05
% BW	1.66	1.61	0.56	0.04	1.60	1.70	1.61	0.14	0.04
Apparent digestibility, %
DM	62.7	62.2	0.18	0.69	53.2^c	65.6^a	66.5^a	<0.01	0.49
OM	59.6	61.0	0.19	0.83	55.1^b	67.8^a	67.7^a	<0.01	1.02
CP	27.3	24.8	0.70	2.42	23.7^b	28.4^a	27.4^a	<0.01	1.91
NDF	62.0	63.5	0.24	1.43	60.8^b	67.4^a	60.0^b	0.03	1.75
ADF	51.7	53.3	0.20	1.39	54.6^a	58.6^a	44.3^b	<0.01	1.71

Note: SEM = standard error of sample mean. DM = dry matter, OM = organic matter, CP = crude protein, NDF = neutral detergent fibre, ADF = acid detergent fibre.

^ATN = Thai native, TAC = Thai native x Lowline Angus crossbred (50:50).

^BRS = rice straw, RS+C = rice straw plus concentrate, PH = Pangola grass hay.

^a,b,cValues on the same row with different superscripts differed (P < .05).

Table 3. Ammonia and VFA concentrations, and microbial populations in the rumen of beef cattle.

Item	Breed^A			SEM	Diet^B				SEM
	TA	TAC	P-value		RS	RS+C	PH	P-value
Ammonia-nitrogen, mg%	15.0	15.4	0.73	0.89	12.7^b	15.6^ab	18.2^a	0.05	1.09
Total VFA (TVFA), mmol/L	78.2	79.5	0.59	3.07	71.6^b	87.7^a	77.3^ab	<0.01	3.21
Acetic acid, % TVFA	71.4	68.5	0.75	2.73	74.5^a	65.3^b	70.0^ab	0.02	2.85
Propionic acid, % TVFA	20.4	22.7	0.42	2.11	18.2^b	26.3^a	20.2^ab	0.04	2.22
Butyric acid, % TVFA	8.2	8.8	0.56	1.45	7.3	8.4	9.8	0.17	1.54
Protozoa, log cell/mL	4.79	4.74	0.80	0.12	4.67	4.78	4.85	0.69	0.15
Fungal zoospore, log cell/mL	5.52	5.72	0.19	0.10	5.40	5.70	5.77	0.13	0.12

Note: ^ATN = Thai native, TAC = Thai native x Lowline Angus crossbred (50:50). SEM = standard error of sample mean.

^BRS = rice straw, RS+C = rice straw plus concentrate, PH = Pangola grass hay.

^a,bValues on the same row with different superscripts differed (P < .05).