Effects of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate on fescue toxicosis and mineral absorption.

The possibility of supplementing livestock diets with an aluminosilicate to protect them from fescue toxicosis was investigated. An in vitro study showed that hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS) removed greater than 90% of the ergotamine from aqueous solutions at pH 7.8 or lower, indicating a high affinity of ergotamine for HSCAS in vitro. Rats fed diets containing tall fescue seed infested (E+) with the endophytic fungus Acremonium coenophialum had lower (P less than .05) feed intakes and weight gains than did rats fed diets containing uninfested (E-) tall fescue seed. When feed intake by rats fed the E- seed diet was limited to that of rats fed the E+ seed diet, weight gains did not differ, but testes weights and serum prolactin (PRL) concentrations were lower (P less than .05 and .10, respectively) in rats receiving E+ seed. Supplementing E+ seed diets with HSCAS did not eliminate effects of E+ seed on intake, PRL, or testes weights. Sheep fed E+ tall fescue hay had higher (P less than .05) rectal temperatures than did sheep fed an equal amount of E- tall fescue hay, but OM and N digestion coefficients did not differ between the two hays. Supplementing E+ hay diets with HSCAS did not eliminate the effect of E+ hay on rectal temperatures. Addition of 2% HSCAS to tall fescue hay diets did not affect apparent absorption by sheep of OM, N, Ca, P, Na, K, or Cu, but it reduced (P less than .05) the apparent absorption of Mg, Mn, and Zn.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)