The objective of this study was to (a) evaluate the effect of replacing soybean meal (SBM) with soybean cake (SBC) on feeding behavior, rumen fermentation, milk production, nutrient digestibility and ...CH
4
emissions and (b) investigate whether a face-mask technique could be used to predict daily methane (CH
4
) emissions in dairy cattle. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design, with 32 crossbred Holstein × Gyr cows (days in milk (DIM): 112 ± 25.1) randomly assigned to the following treatments (
n
= 8/group) for 75 days: (1) 0% SBC, (2) 6% SBC, (3) 14% SBC, and (4) 23% SBC, in place of SBM on a dry matter (DM) basis. Across the final 4 weeks of the study, CH
4
production was estimated using the proposed face-mask technique subsequent to a respiration chamber measurement for an evaluation of treatment efficacy and face-mask accuracy. There was no effect of SBM replacement by SBC on intake, feeding or drinking behavior (
P
> 0.21). Total VFA concentration, the individual proportions of VFA and blood metabolites were not altered (
P
> 0.17) by SBC, however there was a tendency for decreased (
P
= 0.08) lactate and plasma urea nitrogen (
P
= 0.07) concentration associated with SBC addition. Fat-corrected milk yield (FCM
4%
) and composition was not affected (
P
> 0.27) by SBC; however, there was a tendency for decreased total milk solids (
P
= 0.07) and milk fat (
P
= 0.08) associated with 23% SBC treatment. There was no treatment × technique interaction (
P
> 0.05) effect on gas measurements. A maximum reduction (
P
= 0.01) in CH
4
yield (g/kg DM) and intensity (g/kg milk) of 11 and 20%, respectively, was observed for the 14% SBC inclusion. Compared to the week of mask measurements, chambers decreased (
P
= 0.01) intake (kg/d, %BW) and increased (
P
= 0.05) FCM
4%
. The face-mask method over estimated O
2
consumption by 5%. The face-mask method accurately predicted daily CH
4
emissions when compared to the chamber at the same time-point. However, there was a linear bias of CH
4
outputs so further evaluation of the calculation of total CH
4
from a spot measurement is required.
The objective of this study was to examine the effects of Tithonia diversifolia as a supplementary forage on dairy cow performance and methane production. Nine lactating Holstein × Zebu dairy cows ...(519 ± 53.3 kg of body weight and 66 ± 13.3 d in milk) were paired by milk yield (21.3 ± 2.34 kg/d) and body weight and randomly assigned to three dietary treatments in a Latin square design with 21-d experimental periods (14 d for diet adaptation and 7 d for measurements and sample collection). The dietary treatments included the control diet consisting of fresh sugar cane plus concentrate (44:56, % of diet DM), and two treatment diets containing different levels of fresh T. diversifolia (6.5 and 15.4%, DM basis) which partially replaced both sugarcane and concentrates. Methane production was measured using the sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) technique from d 16 to d 21 of each experimental period. Analysis of the gas samples was performed by gas chromatography. The inclusion of T. diversifolia at 15.4% DM had no effects on DM intake, milk production, nitrogen balance or methane production. There was no effect on the concentrations of total saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in milk fat (P ≥ 0.28), though individual milk fatty acids were affected. Serum concentrations of glucose, urea nitrogen (BUN), triglycerides, β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA), and cholesterol were unaffected by the dietary treatments (P ≥ 0.13). There was a time (2 and 6 h post-feeding) and dietary treatment effect (P < 0.01) on the acetate to propionate ratio in the rumen. A denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of the archaeal community showed distinct clustering of the archaea populations for control and treatment diets. Taken together, our results indicate the potential of T. diversifolia as a supplementary forage for dairy cattle in the tropics.
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