Browsing by Author "Sandeep K. Chaudhary"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Hydroponic Forage for Ruminant Feeding: A Comprehensive Review
(Indian journals, 2024) M.S. Mahesh; Sandeep K. Chaudhary; Dharmesh Tewari; Narayan Dutta
The technology of growing forage crops without the support of soil, but in an aqueous medium is known as hydroponic forage (HPF). Unlike soil-based traditional cultivation, with HPF, the growth cycle of forage will be shorter (4-10 days), which can ensure round-the-year forage availability either from lowcost or hi-tech HPF devices. In addition, HPF is immune to weather fluctuations and is a climatically resilient agricultural practice. On the nutritional front, while the crude protein content is known to augment in HPF compared with original grain and conventional green forage; energy will be greater than green forage but lower than grain. In this backdrop, the present updated review discusses the zoo-technical attributes such as intake, rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, growth and feed efficiency, lactation, reproduction and health status of ruminants upon feeding varied species of cereal-and legume HPF. Tradeoffs between animal productivity and economic feasibility have been inconsistent in the literature on feeding HPF. Furthermore, the potential merits and pitfalls of HPF vis-à-vis economic delivery of nutrients for practical diet formulation are also highlighted along with the way forward to leverage the benefits of this technology in the context of tropical livestock production systems under changing climatic scenario. © 2024, Indian journals. All rights reserved.
Novel Feed Supplement Improved Metabolic Hormones, Antioxidant Activity, Immune Response and Gene Expression in Postpartum Cows
(Indian journals, 2024) Sandeep K. Chaudhary; Narayan Dutta; Sunil E. Jadhav; Gyanendra Singh; Sanjay K. Singh; Dharmesh Tewari
This study was taken up to assess the efficacy of a customized novel feed supplement on circulating concentration of metabolic hormones, antioxidant activity, immune response and expression of immune related cytokines and genes involved in energy metabolism in early postpartum dairy cows. Postpartum crossbred lactating cows (N=12) were equally and randomly allocated to CON (control) and NFS (Novel Feed Supplement) groups. The cattle in CON group were fed on green fodder and wheat straw-based diet with concentrate mixture, whereas, cattle in NFS group were fed according to CON group with additional novel feed supplement @ 0.25% of BW. The feeding trials was continued from 60 days post-partum to 150 days lactation period (total experimental period was 90 days). Circulating concentration of T3, T4, GH and IGF-1 hormones were significantly (P<0.05) increased in NFS than CON group. The cows fed NFS diet exhibited significantly (P<0.001) enhanced antioxidant activity than their counterpart fed CON diet. Cell mediated immune response and fold expression of immune related cytokines were significantly (P<0.05) improved in NFS fed cows implicating an improved immune response. The fold expression of LEP gene was higher (P<0.001) and GHRL gene was lower (P<0.001) in NFS than CON groups. Thus, it can be concluded that, dietary inclusion of the novel feed supplement @ 0.25% of BW significantly improved the circulating concentration of metabolic hormones, antioxidant activity, immunity and overall health of lactating crossbred cattle during early lactation period. © 2024, Indian journals. All rights reserved.
Phytochemicals as Natural Feed Additives for Ruminants
(Springer Singapore, 2024) Abhishek K. Singh; Mahipal Choubey; Sandeep K. Chaudhary; Lamella Ojha; Punita Kumari
Given the increased concerns over antibiotic resistance and consumer demands for safer and more sustainable animal production, there is a growing interest in exploring natural alternatives. Phytochemicals derived from plant sources— including tannins, saponins and essential oils, among others—have shown potential as natural feed additives for ruminants. Tannins are polyphenolic compounds having astringent property, modulate rumen fermentation by inhibiting the activity of certain microorganisms such as methanogens and protozoa, leading to reduced methane emissions and improved feed efficiency. Saponins are glycosides exhibiting diverse biological activities like improved rumen fermentation and associated microbial protein synthesis, enhanced nutrient digestibility, decreased protozoa and methanogenesis. While essential oils are volatile compounds extracted from plants, possessing antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities. When used as feed additives for ruminants, essential oils have been reported to improve rumen fermentation, moderate rumen microbial populations and enhance nutrient utilization, besides some showing promising effects on methane reduction in ruminants. Overall, the use of phytochemicals as natural feed additives holds promise in improving ruminant nutrition, health and productivity. This chapter comprehensively overviews the application of phyto chemicals as natural feed additives for ruminants and discusses how phytogenic compounds impact zoo-technical performance variables in ruminants. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.