Affiliation:
1. Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
2. Department of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Abstract
Ruminant animals and ruminal microorganisms have a symbiotic relationship that facilitates fiber digestion, but domestic ruminants in developed countries are often fed an abundance of grain and little fiber. When ruminants are fed fiber-deficient rations, physiological mechanisms of homeostasis are disrupted, ruminal pH declines, microbial ecology is altered, and the animal becomes more susceptible to metabolic disorders and, in some cases, infectious disease. Some disorders can be counteracted by feed additives (for example, antibiotics and buffers), but these additives can alter the composition of the ruminal ecosystem even further.
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Reference55 articles.
1. R. E. Hungate The Rumen and Its Microbes (Academic Press New York ed. 3 1966).
2. Nocek J., Russell J. B., J. Dairy Sci. 71, 2070 (1988).
3. Allen M. S., J. Dairy Sci. 80, 1447 (1997).
4. J. B. Rowe Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition in Australia J. L. Corbett Ed. (Univ. of New England Press Armindale Australia 1999) pp. 81–89.
5. J. B. Russell R. J. Wallace in The Rumen Microbial Ecosystem P. N. Hobson C. S. Stewart Eds. (Blackie London 1997) chap. 6.