It has been established that introducing feed additives to livestock, either nutritional or non-nutritional, is beneficial in manipulating the microbial ecosystem to maintain a balance in the gut microbes and thereby improving nutrient utilization, productivity, and health status of animals. Probiotic use has gained popularity in the livestock industry, especially since antimicrobial growth promoter’s use has been restricted due to the challenge of antibiotic resistance in both animals and consumers of animal products. Their usage has been linked to intestinal microbial balance and improved performance in administered animals. Even though monostrain probiotics could be beneficial, multistrain probiotics containing two or more species or strains have gained considerable attention. Combining different strains has presumably achieved several health benefits over single strains due to individual isolates’ addition and positive synergistic adhesion effects on animal health and performance. However, there has been inconsistency in the effects of the probiotic complexes in literature. This review discusses multistrain probiotics, summarizes selected literature on their effects on ruminants, poultry, and swine productivity and the various modes by which they function.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of stocking density on the behavior, productivity, and metabolism of periparturient Holstein cows as well as calf performance.Methods: A total of 48 periparturient cows were randomly assigned into three groups at 28 days (±3 days) before their expected calving date. The stocking densities of the groups, relative to the standard cubicle and feed bunk number, were i) 80% (13 cows), ii) 100% (16 cows), and iii) 120% (19 cows). Lying and rumination behavior was recorded using electronic data loggers and HR-Tags from d -21 (“d-” means days before calving) until the calving date, d 0. Lying time was assessed to determine the diurnal total hours spent lying per day. Rumination time was averaged in 2 hours interval periods over 24 hours during the experimental period.Results: Cows in the 80% group spent more time lying and ruminating between d -21 and d -7 and tended to ruminate more between d -14 and d 0. Calcium levels tended to be higher for cows in the 80% group, no other observable differences were found in monitored blood parameters. Moreover, 3.5% fat corrected milk and energy corrected milk yields were higher in 80% group in the first month of lactation. No other observable differences were found in the yield and composition of colostrum and milk in the first 10 months of lactation. The growth and performance of calves in the first week of life was not affected by stocking density of the dams.Conclusion: We concluded that lower stocking density may increase lying and ruminating behavior of prepartum Holstein cows. However, this did not translate into improved productivity and metabolism.

The experiment was aimed to predict the relationship between rumen degradation parameters and chemical composition, especially acid detergent lignin, and molecular structure profiles of lignin (the relative content ratio of syringyl and guaiacyl unit) of twenty-two herbaceous and leguminous forage, which were commonly used as roughage for dairy cows in the northeast of China. Analyses of the spectra of forage materials' high boiling solvent lignin samples showed that common features and specific vibrations to each unique lignin were found in the spectrum. In this paper, the spectra of materials high boiling solvent lignin demonstrated absorption at the band around 1332 cm^–1 (syringyl) and 1258 cm^–1 (guaiacyl). The spectra indicated that the lignin of the plant materials used in this study are H-G-S type. A broad range was found among the chemical composition for each feedstuff. The degradation kinetics characteristics among feedstuffs also had relatively large range of variation. The relative content ratio of syringyl (S) and guaiacyl (G) unit of leguminous samples positively correlated with some rumen degradation characteristics. However, there was no correlation between relative content ratio of S and G unit and degradation parameters among the herbaceous materials (p > 0.05). According to analyses, content acid detergent lignin (ADL) and relative content ratio of S and G could be the predictors of the degradation parameters expect S_CP among forage. In conclusion, the relative content ratio of S and G might be potentially used to predict some of the degradation parameters (K_{d CP}, ED_CP, S_NDF) of leguminous feedstuffs.