The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of stevioside on feed intake, feeding behavior, nutrient digestion, rumen fermentation, and serum biochemical parameters in goats. Nine male Xiangdong black goats (21.8 ± 1.5 kg of body weight) were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square. All goats were fed a basal diet including concentrate and forage (chopped rice straw). The three treatments were 0, 400, or 800 mg stevioside per kg chopped rice straw on a dry matter (DM) basis. Dry matter intake of forage and total diet linearly increased (p = 0.03 and p = 0.04) with increasing stevioside in the diet. There was no effect (p > 0.05) of stevioside inclusion in the diets on eating time, rumination time, or total mastication time for the goats. Total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration in the rumen responded quadratically (p < 0.01), decreasing from 0 to 400 mg/kg stevioside inclusion and increasing thereafter. The inclusion of steviosid in the diets promoted a quadratic increase in the apparent total tract digestibilities of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (p = 0.02) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) (p = 0.01). Based on the results of this experiment, it could be concluded that supplementing goat diets with stevioside at 400 mg/kg to 800 mg/kg forage (about 270 to 541 mg/kg diet) resulted in increased dry intake of forage and total diet, suggesting that stevioside has positive potential as a feed additive to improve feed intake.

This study examined the effects of a high-dose Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculant alone or jointly with Lactobacillus plantarum on nutrient preservation, fermentation quality, and aerobic stability of sweet corn stalk silage. Fresh stalks (231 g dry matter (DM)/kg) were chopped and subjected to the following treatments: (1) deionized water (Uninoculated; U); (2) S. cerevisiae at 1 × 10⁸ cfu/g of fresh forage (S); and (3) S. cerevisiae at 1 × 10⁸ cfu/g plus L. plantarum at 1 × 10⁵ cfu/g (SL). Treated stalks were ensiled in 5-litre laboratory silos for 30, 60, and 90 day. The S and SL silages had a greater (p < 0.001) pH and greater crude protein, ammonia nitrogen/total nitrogen, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, and ethanol contents at all three ensiling periods than the U silage. Acetate, propionate and volatile fatty acids in the S and SL silages after 30 and 90 day of ensiling were greater (p < 0.05) than those in the U silage, but they were lower (p < 0.05) in the S and SL silages than in the U silage after 60 day. The lactate and V-score of the S and SL silages were lower (p < 0.001) than those of the U silage at all three ensiling periods. Compared with the U group, the aerobic stability of the S silage after 90 day of ensiling decreased (p < 0.05), and the aerobic stability of the SL silage was unaffected (p > 0.05). Overall, the quality of sweet corn stalk silage was not improved by inoculation with 10⁸ cfu/g of S. cerevisiae alone or in combination with 1 × 10⁵ cfu/g of L. plantarum.

This study evaluated the effects of alkyl polyglycoside (APG), which is a non-ionic surfactant, on lactation performance, nutrient digestibility and blood metabolites in dairy cows. Twenty dairy cows were randomly divided into four groups and fed a basal diet that included pelleted concentrate, distillers grains, and fresh limpograss. The four treatments included 0, 5.5, 11 and 22 mL APG per kg of pelleted concentrate on a dry matter basis; treatments were defined as APG0, APG5.5, APG11, and APG22, respectively. Dry matter intake was not affected by APG supplementation. There was an increase in milk yield (from 13.96 to 16.71 kg/day) and increases in milk fat (quadratic, p = 0.04), protein (quadratic, p = 0.10), and lactose concentrations (linear, p = 0.07) with increasing APG supplementation. In addition, APG supplementation increased (p ≤ 0.03) the milk fat, protein, solid non-fat, and total solid yields, while the lactose yield increased (linear, p = 0.01) as the APG level increased. Dietary APG supplementation had no effect on nutrient digestibility and blood metabolites. It was concluded that the addition of APG at doses up to 22 mL/kg of pelleted concentrate had positive effects on the milk composition in dairy cows.