Towne G, Nagaraja T G, Brandt R T, Gramlich S M
Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan.
Arch Tierernahr. 1991 Feb;41(2):203-7. doi: 10.1080/17450399109428461.
Ruminal samples were collected at slaughter from 98 steers consuming a high-grain diet and receiving either no fat, or 2, 4, 6, or 8% supplemental tallow. Tallow supplementation tended (P = 0.11) to increase average ciliated protozoan numbers, however, the occurrence of defaunated animals was higher in the 8% fat treatment than in the control group. Entodinium spp. were the only protozoans that survived in all treatments, and total numbers ranged up to 3.2 x 10(6)/g of ruminal contents. Although increasing tallow supplementation induced a defaunating effect in many animals, the response was unpredictable and protozoa occasionally proliferated irrespective of fat level.
