Quantitative meta-analysis on the effects of defaunation of the rumen on growth, intake and digestion in ruminants》.pdf

Livestock Production Science 85 (2004) 81–97 /locate/livprodsci Quantitative meta-analysis on the effects of defaunation of the rumen on growth, intake and digestion in ruminants ` a ` a,*, D. Sauvantb M. Eugene , H. Archimede a ´ INRA, Unite de Recherches Zootechniques Prise d’eau, Petit-Bourg, 97170 Guadeloupe, French West Indies b ´ INRA-INA PG, Unite de Physiologie de la Nutrition et Alimentation 16 rue Claude Bernard, 75005 Paris, France Received 21 March 2002; received in revised form 4 March 2003; accepted 1 April 2003 Abstract A quantitative meta-analysis was applied on 90 publications and 169 comparisons dealing with defaunation of the rumen (removal of protozoa from the rumen) in order to point out the major quantitative effects of defaunation and identify interfering factors. Generally speaking defaunation significantly ( P 0.01) increased average daily gain (11% on average, 64 trials) but did not affect dry matter intake. As a consequence, defaunation improved feed conversion efficiency ( P 0.05). These different effects were especially obvious as diets were both high in forage and low in nitrogen and as animals had a low growth potential. Defaunation significantly ( P 0.001) decreased organic matter digestibility ( 1.7 units, 52 trials) and cell wall carbohydrate digestibility ( 5.7 units, 15 trials). The same trend was observed for rumen digestibility. On the other hand, duodenal nitrogen flow, expressed as a ratio of nitrogen intake, was enhanced by defaunation ( P 0.001). Duodenal microbial nitrogen