🦊Ruminant & Camelid Flashcards
What are the major nutritional issues associated with raising alpacas under grazing conditions in Australia?
When grazing on high quality pastures obesity can be a problem in farmed animals. Hepatic lipidosis is never seen in animals kept on the low quality grasslands of the Andes but has been reported in llamas and alpacas fed high quality diets. Excessively low nutrition during early and mid-pregnancy can cause embryonic death.
Zinc deficiency may occur as a result of grazing pastures grown on Zn-deficient soils (as occurs in some regions in Australia).
Describe how and why digestion coefficients of deer and camelids differ to those of sheep.
In comparison to sheep, deer digest poor quality roughage diets less completely but high quality concentrate diets more fully. This may be partially explained by the shorter ruminal retention time and higher passage rate of deer compared to sheep.
Camelids have a slower rate of passage for feed particles than ruminants, resulting in longer retention time, consequently allowing for a greater degree of degradation. In contrast, water passes through compartment 1 (C1) more rapidly compared with the rumen, providing greater C1 buffering capacity. The increase in the velocity of the liquid phase increases the efficiency of microbial growth, ensuring that a minimum amount of energy is needed to maintain the microbial population. Greater urea recycling (due to a lower rate of urea turnover and of kidney excretion compared to sheep and goats) and use (contributed to by greater urease activity) coupled with the slower rate of passage of feed particles in C1 allow camelids to survive on low-quality, low-protein (< 7.5% CP) forages. There is no difference between species with diets containing > 10.5% CP.
What is physically effective fibre or more specifically physically effective neutral detergent fibre (peNDF)?
Physically effective fibre is the fraction of feed that stimulates chewing activity. Physically effective neutral detergent fibre (peNDF) integrates information on chemical constituents (i.e., NDF) and structural features (i.e., particle size) that act jointly and interdependently to stabilise ruminal fermentation and acid-base balance. The peNDF of a feedstuff is the product of its NDF concentration and the physical effectiveness factor (pef). By definition, pef varies from 0, when NDF is not physically effective (e.g., fibre from ground concentrates), to 1, when NDF is fully effective (e.g., fibre from coarsely-chopped hay) in promoting digesta stratification in the rumen, chewing activity, and rumen buffering.
In adult deer which nutrient is most at risk of being deficient and why?
Copper deficiency may be primary, associated with low Cu intake, or secondary, when Cu absorption or metabolism is adversely affected due to high concentrations of Mo, Fe, S or Zn in the diet. A dietary excess of Mo is one of the most common reasons for secondary Cu deficiency. Deer have higher requirements for Cu.
Describe the clinical signs associated with copper deficiency.
§ Steely coat and excess shedding (of fibre) normally first sign
§ Uncoordinated, especially in hind legs (ataxia)
§ Joint abnormalities
§ General ill thrift – decreased growth rates
§ Decreased immunity, increased susceptibility to other health problems
§ Decreased velvet yields
Describe the causes and signs of bloat in cattle.
Bloat is the build-up of (fermentation) gases in the rumen. Bloat occurs when the eructation mechanism is impaired or inhibited and the rate of gas production exceeds the animal’s ability to expel the gas. There are two types of bloat. Frothy bloat happens as the result of a stable foam developing on top of the ruminal liquid, which blocks the release of the gas. Free gas bloat (gassy bloat) is more sporadic
than frothy bloat, usually affecting a few animals rather than a large number. It generally occurs very rapidly and provides little warning for treatment. Irregular feed intake, inhibition of the vagus nerves controlling the contractions of the rumen walls, and physical obstruction of the oesophagus may cause free-gas bloat. The term feedlot bloat is commonly used in reference to bloat resulting from high grain, low roughage rations. The viscous, frothy condition of the ruminal contents is chronic, and the pH is lower than in pasture bloat. Feedlot bloat usually occurs after the cattle have been on feed for about 14 d. It is associated with the feeding of fine particle-sized feed
Clinical signs
§ Distended abdomen on the LHS
§ Rapid breathing, mouth open, tongue protruding
§ Reluctance to move but stagger when they do
§ Vocalising, eyes bulging
§ Straining to defaecate or urinate
In cervid and/or New World camelid nutrition, which nutrients are most at risk of being deficient?
Copper (deer) and Vitamin D (NW camelids) or iron (crias).
Describe the signs (for each deficient nutrient: copper in deer, vitamin D in NW camelids, iron in crias) that indicate a cervid and/or camelid is suffering from these deficiencies?
Copper in deer
§ Steely coat and excess shedding (of fibre) normally first sign
§ Uncoordinated, especially in hind legs (ataxia)
§ Joint abnormalities
§ General ill thrift – decreased growth rates
§ Decreased immunity, increased susceptibility to other health problems
§ Decreased velvet yields
Iron: only seen in crias
§ Poor growth/chronic weight loss
§ Non-regenerative microcytic hypochromic anaemia
Vitamin D
§ Affected crias show slower growth rates, reluctance to move, humped-back stance, shifting leg lameness
§ Hypophosphataemia (< 3.0 mg/dL) most consistent diagnostic finding
Explain what is meant by the term “Scratch Factor” in compiling rations for ruminants.
§ Rumination induced by sensors in the rumen wall, innervated by dorsal trunk of vagus nerve
§ Rumination stimulated by tactile means or pressure of coarse material – ‘scratch’ factor
§ Probably responsible for inducing normal rumination
§ Lack of stimulation may be responsible for low rumination in animals on concentrate or
pelleted diets
§ Related to both particle size and cell wall content of feedstuffs – effective fibre >1.5 cm long
Which of the following statements is correct?
a) Alpacas and llamas maintain lower blood glucose concentrations than ruminants.
b) Alpacas and llamas have a faster rate of passage for feed particles than ruminants.
c) When fed low- or medium-quality diets, alpacas and llamas have higher digestion coefficients
compared with ruminants.
d) Compared to ruminants, alpacas and llamas recycle less urea.
c) When fed low- or medium-quality diets, alpacas and llamas have higher digestion coefficients
compared with ruminants.
Which of the following statements is correct?
a) When fed poor quality roughage diets, deer have higher digestion coefficients compared with sheep.
b) When fed poor high quality concentrate diets, deer have higher digestion coefficients compared with sheep.
c) Deer have a longer ruminal retention time than sheep.
d) The composition of the rumen microbial population in deer varies greatly to that of sheep.
b) When fed poor high quality concentrate diets, deer have higher digestion coefficients compared with sheep.
Which of the following statements is not correct?
a) Low Ca: P ratio (typically associated with high grain intake) predisposes alpacas to struvite formation.
b) When fed low or medium quality diets, the maintenance DM intake requirements of alpacas are higher than for ruminants.
c) The body weight of female alpacas at their first breeding should be approximately 60% of mature weight.
d) Because of the diffuse epitheliochorial nature of placentation in camelids, crias are born hypogammaglobulinaemic.
b) When fed low or medium quality diets, the maintenance DM intake requirements of alpacas are higher than for ruminants.
Potential metabolic causes of recumbency in camelids include
a) hypocalcaemia.
b) hypokalaemia.
c) hypophosphataemia.
d) all of the above.
d) all of the above.
When hand-feeding crias, kid or lamb milk replacers are generally considered better than calf milk replacers.
a) True.
b) False.
a) True
Insulin production is low in camelids, with a corresponding increase in insulin resistance and potentially unsuppressed hepatic gluconeogenesis.
a) True.
b) False.
a) True
