Nitrogen metabolism in meatmaster sheep fed brewers grain as a supplementary source of protein
type: CreativeWork
description: This study aimed to examine how nitrogen metabolism in sheep is affected when brewers’ grains are added to diet as a supplementary protein source. Eight Meatmaster rams (average live weight 30 ± 3.2 kg; approximately 6 months old) were randomly allocated to four iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous diets, which contained 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% BSG, denoted BSG0, BSG10, BSG20, and BSG30, respectively. The experiment was conducted using a 4 × 4 Latin square design in duplicate. The sheep were housed in metabolic cages for 19 days, consisting of 14 days adaptation and 5 days for data collection. During this period, feed intake, faecal and urinary outputs, and excreta were measured. Feed and excreta samples were analysed for chemical composition, including dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and condensed tannins (CT) as a percentage of dry matter. These data were used to calculate nutrient intake (g/day); apparent digestibility coefficients (%) for DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF, and ADF; nitrogen metabolism parameters (nitrogen intake (NI), faecal nitrogen (FN), urinary nitrogen (UN), total nitrogen excretion (TNE), and nitrogen retention (NR) in g/day, rumen fermentation and microbial parameters (allantoin concentration (mmol/L), microbial nitrogen yield (g/day), microbial true protein (MTP, g/day), digestible organic matter in the rumen (DOMR, g/day), nitrogen utilisation efficiency (Emns, g N/kg DOMR) and the metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/day) intake. The CT content (as a percentage of dry matter) in the BSG10 diet was significantly higher (P<0.05) than in the other dietary treatments. No significant differences (P>0.05) in the intake of DM, OM, DOMI, and ME were observed. However, CP, EE, acid detergent fibre (ADF), and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intakes varied significantly (P < 0.05) across treatments. The apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of EE showed no notable …
abstract: This study aimed to examine how nitrogen metabolism in sheep is affected when brewers’ grains are added to diet as a supplementary protein source. Eight Meatmaster rams (average live weight 30 ± 3.2 kg; approximately 6 months old) were randomly allocated to four iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous diets, which contained 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% BSG, denoted BSG0, BSG10, BSG20, and BSG30, respectively. The experiment was conducted using a 4 × 4 Latin square design in duplicate. The sheep were housed in metabolic cages for 19 days, consisting of 14 days adaptation and 5 days for data collection. During this period, feed intake, faecal and urinary outputs, and excreta were measured. Feed and excreta samples were analysed for chemical composition, including dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and condensed tannins (CT) as a percentage of dry matter. These data were used to calculate nutrient intake (g/day); apparent digestibility coefficients (%) for DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF, and ADF; nitrogen metabolism parameters (nitrogen intake (NI), faecal nitrogen (FN), urinary nitrogen (UN), total nitrogen excretion (TNE), and nitrogen retention (NR) in g/day, rumen fermentation and microbial parameters (allantoin concentration (mmol/L), microbial nitrogen yield (g/day), microbial true protein (MTP, g/day), digestible organic matter in the rumen (DOMR, g/day), nitrogen utilisation efficiency (Emns, g N/kg DOMR) and the metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/day) intake. The CT content (as a percentage of dry matter) in the BSG10 diet was significantly higher (P<0.05) than in the other dietary treatments. No significant differences (P>0.05) in the intake of DM, OM, DOMI, and ME were observed. However, CP, EE, acid detergent fibre (ADF), and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intakes varied significantly (P < 0.05) across treatments. The apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of EE showed no notable …
author: Molokomme, Maite
language: en
keywords: Brewer's grains, Condensed tannin, Nitrogen metabolism, Nitrogen utilisation efficiency, UCTD
date published: 2026-05-19
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:57:52Z
provider: University of Venda
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Venda