Resumen de Efecto del tipo y forma de presentación del cereal del concentrado sobre la fermentación ruminal en terneros en cebo intensivo
A. Gimeno, A. Al Alami, M. Fondevila, A. de Vega, C. Castrillo
Ruminal acidosis is a common metabolic disorder found in feedlot cattle. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the source of cereal (maize or barley) in the concentrate and its physical form (ground to 3.5 mm or dry rolled) on rumen fermentation parameters (rumen pH, volatile fatty acids - VFA - and ammonia) and intake pattern of feed and water in intensively reared steers. Rolled diets tended to promote a more homogeneous intake pattern of concentrate along day by regulating the intake during the first 4 h after feeding. Furthermore, rolled cereals promoted a more stable rumen fermentation, characterized by a lower proportion of observations in risk of rumen acidosis (pH below 5,6 and total VFA concentration above 150 mM), been this effect more evident in the case of barley. These results suggest that the dry rolling processing of the cereals of the concentrate could be a good way of preventing rumen acidosis in feedlot cattle by a regulation on the intake pattern of concentrate and/or the fermentation rate of starch.
