14th International Symposium and 6th Conference on Lameness in Ruminants - Uruguay 8-11 Nov.

2006 This manuscript is reproduced in the IVIS website with the permission of the conference organizers. To return to the Table of Content, close this window or go to www.ivis.org ____________________________________________________________________________________

CONFERENCE

BLOQUE / BLOCK 4

NUTRITION AND LAMENESS: RUMINAL pH AND SUBACUTE ACIDOSIS IN GRAZING ANIMALS

Repetto J.L., Cajarville C.2 Departamento de Bovinos, Departamento de Nutricin. Facultad de Veterinaria, UdelaR. Lasplaces 1550, Montevideo, Uruguay. nutrag@adinet.com.uy.

Introduction Nutrition management, and its relationship with subacute ruminal acidosis, has been identied as one of many factors associated with the onset of laminitis. The risk of laminitis developement has been associated with higher dry matter intakes and mainly with higher levels of grains in diets. A detailed review about causes and prevention of subacute acidosis in dairy herds under intensive conditions has been recently published by Krause and Oetzel (2006). The present paper has the objective to discuss some results obtained mainly under grazing situations. Rumen pH regulation Ruminal pH is the consequence of volatile fatty acids (VFA) production and absorption and the buffering capacity of ruminal environment.
14 Simposio Internacional y 6 Conferencia Cojeras en Rumiantes / Lameness in Ruminants

Rumen pH is stabilised by buffering VFA produced. Main buffering components are secreted via saliva. Saliva production is determined mainly by the time spent ruminating and therefore by the effective bre content in the diet. Table 1 shows NRC (2001) bre recommends for dairy cattle. Feedstuffs have also different cation exchange capacities, which may be important in buffering the rumen system (Van Soest, 1994). In general, legumes have a higher buffering capacity than grasses, independently of their bre contents.
Table 1: Recommended minimum concentration of Total and Forage neutral detergent bre (NDF) and recommended maximum concentration of non-brous carbohydrates (NFC) for diets of lactating cows (values expressed as % of DM) (according to NRC, 2001)

Briggs et al. (1957) found that the decrease in ruminal pH was mainly due by the increase in volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration. The same was observed by Prez (2006a) in animals consuming temperate pastures as only feed (gure 1). VFA concentration depends on the quantity of fermentable carbohydrates in the diet. Then, it depends on the level of intake and diet composition (quantity and type of non-bre carbohydrates (NFC)). High intakes in dairy cattle have been associated to low ruminal pH (Krause and Oetzel, 2006).

The role of concentrates in acidosis development Acidosis has been associated with concentrates and specially grain feeding. In total mixed rations pH declines in response to increased concentrates, with independence of the use of buffers (Khorasani and Kennelly, 2001). Acids rapidly produced during fermentation of grains generally keep rumen pH below neutral. However, there are differences in ruminal fermentation rates between grain sources. While corn and sorghum have a slow fermentation rate, wheat and barley are rapidly and completely

Figure 1: Rumen pH and volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentrations in lambs fed temperate forages during the morning (full lines) or in the afternoon (broken lines).

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14th International Symposium and 6th Conference on Lameness in Ruminants - Uruguay 8-11 Nov. 2006 This manuscript is reproduced in the IVIS website with the permission of the conference organizers. To return to the Table of Content, close this window or go to www.ivis.org ____________________________________________________________________________________ fermented in rumen (Offner et al., 2003). Not only grain source determines its utilization, but also grain processing. In general, the rate of fermentation raises with the severity of the processing (rate of fermentation whole grain < cracked < ground < silage, high moisture < steam acked). Repetto et al. (2005) observed that sorghum grains harvested in a high moisture stage (more than 25 % of moisture) and ensiled had 50 % higher rumen degradation than grains harvested in a dry stage (less than 14% of moisture) and ground. Although amounts of grain supplied in Uruguay are low (rarely exceeds one third of the diet), the frequency of supplementation (supplied in one or two meals) can increase the risk of ruminal acidosis. Ruminal pH of animals grazing temperate pastures High quality temperate pastures are often extensively and rapidly fermented in the rumen. Fermentation of this type of forages vary according to grazing management. Uruguayan assays demonstrated that the magnitude and rate of fermentation raises during the day, because of water soluble carbohydrates content increases in the forage throughout the day (Repetto et al., 2006). Moreover, in a paper presented in this symposium, Prez et al (2006b), concluded that rumen pH was affected by the timing of cut or graze of a temperate pasture. These type of forages can lead to low pH values. Stockdale (1994) found low ruminal pH values (5.6) in dairy cows fed temperate pastures. Cajarville et al (2006a), working with lambs consuming temperate grass-legume mixtures, observed that ruminal pH was on average 6.28, but pH was lower than 6.2 during 9 hours per day. Minimum values of pH (5.4) were observed 4 hours after the beginning of the ingestion, and coincided with maximum acetic, propionic, butyric and total VFA concentrations. In an other experiment, Cajarville et al (2006b) working with cows grazing temperate pastures and supplemented with grains, observed that moments of minimum pH were registered, not after supplementation (as it could be expected) but after a few hours of being grazing (see gure 2). Feeding management Feeding management can affect rumen pH and then increase acidosis risk. According to Nagaraja and Titgemeyer (2006), ruminal acidosis is related to the amount, frequency and duration of grain feeding. Low frequencies and large amounts of food per meal increase the risk of acidosis development (Krause and Oetzel, 2006). In a paper presented in this symposium, Cajarville et al (2006c) compared 24-h pH data of 13 experimental treatments categorized according to the frequency of feeding. pH was signicantly lower when animals had restricted access to feed than when they had continuous access. In addition, when the amounts of meals per day were low (1 or 2), pH showed important daily uctuations, and values below 6.2 were observed from 2 to 11 h after the beginning of the main meal, independently of forage/concentrate ratio. According to several authors (Cook et al (2004); Krause and Oetzel (2006); Greenough and Acua (2002)) social factors play an important role in acidosis development, mainly related to stall use behaviour, and access to feed. Krause and Oetzel (2006) suggested that the higher risk of acidosis development in primiparous cows would be related to the difculty in the access to feedbunks for small and frequent meals, when they share the group with older cows. If acidosis is a problem in primiparous cows, grouping the herd according to age may be a good solution. Tools for acidosis prevention Feeding management has to be considered as an important tool for prevention. The restriction of the access to feed may improve the feed efciency, but increases the acidosis risk. Ad libitum feeding is the best option to prevent acidosis. The time spent grazing may be maximised, not only to increase dry matter intake, but also to maintain a stable ruminal pH. Additives are also useful for prevention. The addition of buffer compounds is usual in feeding programmes. The most common compounds are sodium bicarbonate and magnesium oxide. There are many studies that report successful in the use of these compounds (Hutjens, 1991, NRC, 2001), improving feed intake, milk yield and milk composition. However, some authors have discussed the benet of buffer addition (Khorasani and Kennelly, 2001). The information about the addition of buffer compounds in grazing systems is still insufcient. Dalley et al. (2001) observed lower pH drops 1 to 2 hours after bicarbonate addition to grazing dairy cows, but they didnt nd differences neither in yield nor in milk composition. Monensin and lasalocid are used

Figure 2: Diurnal rumen pH of grazing cows supplemented according to the grain with wheat (open squares) or corn (full triangles) (mean SE; n = 4). Black areas indicate the proportion of cows grazing after the connement period. Arrows indicate the moment of supplementation; lines under arrows indicate connement periods.

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8 - 11 de noviembre de 2006 / Hotel Sheraton / Colonia / Uruguay

14th International Symposium and 6th Conference on Lameness in Ruminants - Uruguay 8-11 Nov. 2006 This manuscript is reproduced in the IVIS website with the permission of the conference organizers. To return to the Table of Content, close this window or go to www.ivis.org ____________________________________________________________________________________ to prevent coccidiosis and to improve feed efciency. They also help in acidosis prevention by reducing lactate formation in the rumen and then stabilizing ruminal pH (NRC, 2001). Direct-fed microbials (probiotics) are also used to regulate pH uctuation, improving the conversion lactate to VFA in rumen. Although all these tools are very useful, none of them can replace the knowledge of rumen pH regulation mechanisms and feedstuffs characteristics, which is necessary to develop an adequate acidosis prevention scheme. References Briggs P Hogan J.P Raid R.L. 1957. The effect of volatile fatty ., ., acids, lactic acid and ammonia on rumen in sheep. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 8: 674. Cajarville C., Prez A., Aguerre M., Britos A., Repetto J.L. 2006a. Effect of the timing of cut on ruminal environment of lambs consuming temperate pastures. J. Anim. Sci. (84), Suppl. 1/J. Dairy Sci. (89), Suppl. 1: 103 Cajarville C., Aguerre M., Repetto J.L. 2006b. Rumen pH, NH3N concentration and forage degradation kinetics of cows grazing temperate pastures and supplemented with different sources of grain. Animal Research 55, 6 (in press). Cajarville C., Aguerre M., Britos A., Tebot I., Prez A., Elizondo V., Repetto J.L. 2006. Effect of feeding frequency of fresh forage on ruminal pH: data review. 14th International Symposium on Lameness in Ruminants. Colonia, Uruguay Cook N. B., Nordlund K. V., Oetzel G. R. 2004. Environmental inuences on clawn horn lesions associated with laminitis and subacute ruminal acidosis in dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 87 (E: Suppl.): E36-E46. Dalley D.E., Roche J.R., Grainger C. 2001. Effect of grain or buffer supplementation on milk solids yield and rumen fermentation patterns of cows grazing highly digestible herbage in spring. Proc. NZSAP 61 (2001) 224-228. . Greenough P Acua R. 2002. Bases epizootiolgicas de las ., claudicaciones en rodeos lecheros. X Congreso Latinoamericano de Buiatra XXX Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatra. 54 58. Khorasani G.R., Kennelly J.J. 2001. Inuence of carbohydrate source and buffer on rumen fermentation characteristics, milk yield, and milk composition in late-lactation Holstein cows. J. Dairy Sci. 84: 1707-1716.

14 Simposio Internacional y 6 Conferencia Cojeras en Rumiantes / Lameness in Ruminants

Krause K.M., Oetzel G.R. 2006. Understanding and preventing subacute ruminal acidosis in dairy herds: a review. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 126: 215-236. Nagaraja T.G., Titgemeyer E.C. 2006. Ruminal acidosis in beef cattle: the current microbiological outlook. J. Anim. Sci. (84), Suppl. 1/J. Dairy Sci. (89), Suppl. 1: 153 NRC. 2001. Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle. Seventh revised Edition. National Academy Press. Washington D.C. Offner A., Bach A., Sauvant D. 2003. Quantitative review of in situ starch degradation in the rumen. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 106: 81-93. Prez A. 2006a. pH, amonaco, cidos grasos voltiles y produccin de protena microbiana en el rumen de corderos segn el horario de corte de la pastura consumida. Tesis de Grado. Facultad de Veterinaria, UdelaR. Montevideo, Uruguay. Prez A., Repetto J.L., Britos A., Aguerre M., Alonso M., Gmez X., Prez A.L., Cazulli G., Garn D., Cajarville C. 2006. Ruminal pH of lambs, heifers and cows fed temperate pastures depending on its time of cut. 14th International Symposium on Lameness in Ruminants. Colonia, Uruguay. Repetto J.L., Curbelo A., Melognio E. Ortiz R., Cajarville C. 2005. Ruminal degradation of different genotypes of sorghum grain harvested with high or low moisture. VI Congresso Brasileiro de Buiatria. Bzios, RJ., Brazil. Repetto J.L., Britos A., Errandonea N., Cozzolino D., Cajarville C. 2006. Effect of harvest schedule and plant part on in vitro gas production of temperate forages. J. Anim. Sci. (84), Suppl. 1/J. Dairy Sci. (89), Suppl. 1: 102 Van Soest P 1994. Nutritional ecology of the ruminant. 2 ed. .J. Ed. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

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