| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2456932 | Small Ruminant Research | 2015 | 5 Pages |
•Lasalocid and yeast product combination boasts no benefit to nutrient digestibility.•Crude protein availability is increased due to the ionophore and yeast combination.•Lasalocid reduces the available ether extract content of lamb finisher diets.•NDF content and quality could affect yeast response to fiber digestibility.•Due to no clear response a possible yeast and ionophore combination is not proposed.
The influence of a rumen-specific active live yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae; SC CNCM I-1077), alone or in combination with an ionophore (Lasalocid-Na), on the apparent digestibility of nutrients in a standard lamb finishing diet was investigated. The four dietary treatments consisted of the same basal diet (151 g CP/kg DM, 226 g NDF/kg DM and 11.2 MJ ME/kg DM) differing only in respect to the additive included, i.e. (i) the control diet (C; no additive), (ii) live yeast (SC; 220 g/ton), (iii) lasalocid-Na (G; 120 g/ton) and (iv) both live yeast with ionophore (SCG) added at the same mentioned levels. Thirty-two South African Mutton Merino wethers (44.46 ± 3.84 kg) were randomly allocated to the four dietary treatments (n = 8 animals/treatment) and each placed in digestibility crates for a period of 16 days (7-day adaptation followed by a 9-day collection period). Dietary treatment had no effect (P > 0.05) on the apparent nutrient digestibility of the finisher diets. However, ionophore (G) inclusion significantly increased (P < 0.01) the digestible CP content (10.89% digestible CP) of the experimental diet. This effect was significantly enhanced (P < 0.05: 11.38% digestible CP) when a live yeast/ionophore combination (SCG) was included within the finishing diet. In contrast, including lasalocid-Na (G) within finishing diets of lambs significantly reduced (P < 0.05) its digestible EE content (5.71% digestible EE). The results suggest that this rumen-specific live yeast included alone, or in combination with lasalocid-Na, does not influence apparent digestibility or the ME content of finishing diets fed to lambs. It does however enhance apparent total tract CP availability.
