The objective of this study was to investigate the fermentation quality and microbial community of corn stover (CS) or rice straw (RS) silage mixed with soybean curd residue (SCR). In this study, SCR and CS or RS were mixed at ratios of 75:25, 70:30, and 65:35, respectively, and measured for nutrient content, fermentation indices, and bacterial diversity after 30 days of ensiling. The results showed an increase in lactic acid (LA) concentration (p < 0.01) and crude protein (CP) content (p < 0.0001), a decrease in pH value (p < 0.01), the content of NDF (p < 0.01) and ADF (p < 0.01), and ammonia nitrogen (AN) concentration (p < 0.01) as the proportion of SCR in raw materials (CS or RS) increased. The addition of SCR to silage led to a decrease in bacterial diversity and contributed to an increased relative abundance of beneficial microorganisms, such as Lactobacillus, and a corresponding decrease in the relative abundance of undesirable microorganisms, such as Clostridium and Enterobacter. Collectively, the mixed silage of soybean curd residue with corn stover or rice straw preserved more nutrients and helped improve fermentation quality.

This study aimed to determine changes and interactions of ruminal microbiota and chemical parameters in dairy cows fed FTMR. Twelve multiparous Holstein dairy cows (Body weight = 616 ± 13.4 kg; day in milk = 106 ± 7.55 d; and parity = 2.31 ± 0.49; mean ± standard deviation) were divided randomly into two treatments depending on the day in milk, milk production, and parity. The two treatments were: (1) total mixed ration (TMR) and (2) FTMR. Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used to explore the changes in the ruminal microbiota. The results revealed that the bacterial and fungal diversity of the FTMR group were significantly higher than the TMR group. The predominant microbiota phyla in the bacteria and fungi showed significant differences between TMR and FTMR, as follows: Verrucomicrobia (p = 0.03) and Tenericutes (p = 0.01), Ascomycota (p = 0.04) and Basidiomycota (p = 0.04). The dominant bacterial genera in the bacteria, fungi, protozoan, and archaea that showed significant differences between TMR and FTMR were Unclassified_Bacteroidales (p = 0.02), Unclassified_RFP12 (p = 0.03), Candida (p = 0.0005), Bullera (p = 0.002), Cryptococcus (p = 0.007), and Ostracodinium (p = 0.01). LefSe analysis was performed to reveal the biomarker genera of the rumen microbiota community (bacteria, fungi, protozoan, and archaea) in the TMR and FTMR were the genera Shuttleworthia, Ruminococcus, Cryptococcus, Mycosphaerella, Bullera, Candida, and Ostracodinium. NH₃-N concentration (p < 0.0001), total VFA concentration (p = 0.003), and molar proportion in total VFA of acetate (p = 0.01) were higher for the cows fed FTMR compared with the cows fed the TMR. Several bacterial genera showed significant correlations with rumen fermentation parameters. The genus Unclassified_Bacteroidales and Bullera were positively correlated with total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and acetate, whereas Candida and Ostracodinium showed negative correlations. Meanwhile, propionate was positively correlated with Candida and negatively correlated with Bullera. The PICRUSt functional profile prediction indicated that the xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism, the lipid, amino acid, terpenoids, and polyketides metabolisms of the FTMR group were significantly higher than that of the TMR group. The results imply that FTMR can increase lipid and amino acid metabolism, and modulate the rumen microbiome and improve ruminal fermentation.

The management of body condition score (BCS) during the dry period is associated with the postpartum health outcomes of dairy cows. However, the difference between the actual BCS and the fixed ideal value is not able to accurately predict the occurrence of postpartum diseases. This study aimed to use statistical process control (SPC) technology to monitor the BCS of dry cows, to evaluate the effect of control charts on nutritional strategies, and to explore the utility of SPC in predicting the incidence of postpartum subclinical ketosis (SCK). The BCS and SCK data of 286 cows from the dry off period to 60 days postpartum were collected to set up the early warning function. Three control charts, including a control chart for the average BCS of the herds, for the BCS of each dry cow, and for individual BCS, were established. The early warning signs for postpartum SCK development were: (1) an individual BCS more than 3.5 that remained unchanged for six weeks; (2) a capability index (CPK), an SPC tool, greater than −0.52. Using these parameters, the early warning signs of SCK development were verified in 429 dry cows. The results showed that the accuracy of early warning signal was 0.64 and the precision was 0.26. The control chart showed that the average BCS of dry cows was consistently higher than the expected upper limit of BCS during the experimental period, and that the addition of new cows to the herds increased the average BCS. In summary, the application of SPC technology to monitor the BCS of dry cows was not a good tool for the prediction of postpartum SCK occurrence but was an appropriate tool for guiding positive nutrition strategies.

Long-term storage can impair the feeding value of corn. This study evaluated whether dietary Laminaria japonica polysaccharide (LJP) could alleviate the adverse effects of aged corn in Hu sheep. Twenty-one male Hu sheep (39.05 ± 3.55 kg) were assigned to a normal-corn diet (NC), an aged-corn diet (AC), or the AC diet supplemented with 0.5% LJP (AC+LJP; n = 7) for 70 d, including a 14-d adaptation period. Compared with NC, AC reduced average daily gain, gain-to-feed ratio, the apparent digestibility of crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber, ruminal total volatile fatty acids, acetate and butyrate, and muscle glutathione peroxidase activity. LJP supplementation restored average daily gain, gain-to-feed ratio, and crude protein and neutral detergent fiber digestibility to levels comparable with NC. It also increased ruminal ammonia nitrogen, microbial crude protein, total volatile fatty acids, acetate, butyrate, and isobutyrate relative to AC, while reducing muscle malondialdehyde concentration and increasing total antioxidant capacity. Dietary treatment had little effect on carcass traits, most meat-quality variables, or overall rumen bacterial diversity. In conclusion, supplementation with 0.5% LJP partially alleviated the decline in nutrient utilization and rumen fermentation associated with aged corn and improved muscle antioxidant status. These findings support the potential use of LJP as a functional feed additive to improve the utilization of aged-corn-based diets in sheep.

Milk is an important production indicator for dairy farms. Accurate prediction of milk yield can evaluate cow production performance and provide a reference for ranchers to make decisions. Here, we continuously monitored the milk output of a dairy farm for one year, exclude the cows with diseases and large parity, and screened out the milk yield data of 100 cows. It was found that the milk production was time-dependent, and the lactation curve was non-stationary. We designed a prediction model combining wavelet transform and Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network (WT-LSTM). The model first denoises the lactation curve, and then inputs it into the LSTM neural network for prediction, and further verifies the denoising effect through the prediction indicators. The results shown that in predicting the daily output, the performance of the sym7 mother wavelet denoising model is better than that of the control group without noise reduction, in which RMSE, MAPE, and MAE are reduced by 20%, 17%, and 22%, respectively, and ρ is increased by 5%. The wavelet transform can solve the problem of non-stationary milk quantity and improve the prediction performance of LSTM. In the actual production of dairy cows, adding wavelet transform to predict milk quantity can improve pasture management.

Long-term maize storage causes oxidative deterioration, but its effects on intestinal redox status, systemic inflammation, and liver-related responses in ruminants remain unclear. Laminaria japonica polysaccharide (LJP) has antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and microbiota-regulating properties, but its efficacy during aged-maize feeding is unknown. This study evaluated whether LJP mitigates oxidative and inflammatory responses in Hu sheep fed aged maize and characterized cecal microbiome and metabolome alterations. Twenty-one Hu sheep (39.05 ± 3.55 kg) were assigned to three diets (n = 7) and fed for 10 weeks (a 14-day adaptation period followed by 8 weeks of treatment): normal maize (CK), aged maize (AM), or aged maize with 0.5% LJP (AML). Compared with CK, AM increased plasma lipopolysaccharide (0.428 vs. 0.379 EU/mL), TNF-α, and IL-1β, and raised ileal reactive oxygen species (248.79 vs. 166.23 fluorescence intensity/mg; p < 0.001) and malondialdehyde (1.87 vs. 1.63 nmol/L; p = 0.006), consistent with systemic inflammation and intestinal oxidative stress. AML lowered these inflammatory and oxidative indices and increased hepatic T-AOC (p = 0.009) and catalase activity (p = 0.013). Integrated 16S rRNA and untargeted metabolomic analysis revealed treatment-associated cecal microbe–metabolite associations. These findings indicate that aged-maize feeding was associated with intestinal and systemic redox–inflammatory changes in Hu sheep, whereas dietary LJP was associated with partial mitigation, potentially involving microbial and metabolic remodeling.