The feed value of whole crop maize silage (WCMS) depends on nutrient composition, ruminal degradability and whole tract digestibility. However, as the ruminal degradation rate is involved in physical regulation of feed intake, ruminal degradability of WCMS may also affect feed intake and milk production of dairy cows. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine relationships between nutrient composition, ruminal degradability, and whole tract digestibility of WCMS and feed intake and milk production of dairy cows. Nine varieties were tested in 3 consecutive years. Nutrient composition analyses included proximate analysis and determination of cell wall constituents. Whole tract digestibility was determined in vivo using wethers and ruminal degradability was examined in situ using four rumen-fistulated steers. Feed intake and milk production were measured using nine cows per variety. Cows were fed a ration consisting of 75.0% WCMS, 8.5% hay and 16.5% soya bean meal (dry matter basis) ad libitum. Variety did not influence nutrient composition, except for the concentration of ADF (ADFom), ADL and utilisable CP (uCP). In contrast, variety had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on ruminal degradability of NDF (aNDFom) and on whole tract digestibility of organic matter (OM) and non-fibre carbohydrates. Dry matter intake (DMI) of WCMS tended to be affected by variety (0.05<P < 0.10) whereas no effect on energy-corrected milk production (ECM) was observed. The year of harvest had an influence on net energy for lactation and uCP concentration, ruminal degradability and whole tract digestibility of nutrients, as well as on DMI and ECM of dairy cows. Whole tract aNDFom digestibility of WCMS was positively correlated with aNDFom concentration (R2 = 0.48) and whole tract OM digestibility (R2 = 0.58). Furthermore, ruminal OM degradability was positively correlated with DMI (R2 = 0.57) and ECM (R2 = 0.49) of dairy cows. The results indicate that ruminal degradability and whole tract digestibility have a greater impact on the feed value of WCMS than nutrient composition and should be focused on to optimise feed intake and milk production of dairy cows. Thus, maize breeders should include ruminal degradability and whole tract digestibility parameters in variety testing programs to increase the informative value of variety descriptions for farmers.

There are several species of snail with varying nutrient profile. The protein content of snail meal (53-83%) is comparable to or higher than fish meal. Apart from lower methionine, the essential amino acids composition of snail protein is similar to fish meal and better than soybean meal. The fat of snail meal is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids and has a good supply of essential fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acids) and minerals. These qualities make the meal a suitable substitute for more expensive, conventional protein feedstuffs. The variability in nutritional content, potential presence of anti-nutritional factors (cyanide, tannins and saponins) and the seasonal availability of snails (mainly during the moist season) are major factors limiting the use of snail meal in poultry diets on a commercial scale. However, heat processed snail meal could be effectively utilised for practical on-farm feed applications to reduce cost and provide an environmentally friendly method of controlling snails, especially where they are major agricultural pests. In suitable regions, snails could be intensively bred to ensure the availability of the meal in commercial quantities for poultry feeding. Heat processed snail meal is recommended at 10% in the diet of meat and egg-type chickens but raw snail meal is not. The composition of snail meal (nutritional and anti-nutritional properties), recommendations in diets for domestic chickens, results of some feeding experiments and major constraints to its efficient utilisation are discussed in the following paper.

Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a by-product of the ethanol industry produced by dry mill ethanol plants. During the fermentation process starch from the grain is converted to ethanol and CO2, concentrating the remaining nutrients in DDGS by 2-3 times. In the European Union the favoured use of renewable energy sources has encouraged increased production of biofuels. The increase of bio-ethanol production has resulted in large quantities of DDGS entering the feed raw material market. Because of its high nutrient quality, related to the typically gentle drying and processing it receives, DDGS obtained from the modern ethanol industry may be used as a feed for monogastric animals with good results. The main problem in the use of DDGS for poultry is its high variability of nutrient content and availability.

Results from different laboratories on the use of DDGS as feed component for poultry are discussed in the article. Based on the results presented, DDGS obtained from the modern ethanol plants is an acceptable ingredient of poultry diets and can be safely fed at 5-8% in starter diets for broilers and turkey, and 12-15% in grower-finisher diets for broiler and turkey and diets for laying hens.

We analysed the selection of tree species consumed by an isolated troop of Mexican howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana) released in a translocation programme on Agaltepec Island, in Catemaco Lake, Veracruz, Mexico. During November 1989–December 1996, howlers used 36 of the 63 tree species present on the island as food. Selection ratios indicated that six Ficus species (particularly F. pertusa) were among the seven most important food species. Data on time spent feeding showed that the six Ficus species were among the eight most important food species for the monkeys. Howlers spent 64.2% of their feeding time on Ficus products with F. pertusa being consumed significantly more often than foods from other Ficus species. However, monkeys fed on only one third of the 81 adult Ficus trees on the island. No significant differences were found in various food constituents (water, ash, fibre, protein, carbohydrates, lipids) of the six Ficus and two other abundant species in the habitat, whether across species, plant parts (young leaves, mature leaves, fruits), or between seasons (wet, dry). Monkeys consumed Ficus fruits rather the leaves. Fruits showed a much higher energy content per g dry weight than leaves. We also estimated the average daily biomass of leaves and fruits of Ficus spp. consumed by howlers and their energetic contribution to the daily diet of these monkeys. We suggest that some of these tendencies to frugivory reflect the abundance of Ficus trees within the home ranges of the howlers; when few fig trees are present, folivory is the dominant tendency, whereas when many fig trees are present, frugivory is dominant.

Wild Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus, were kept in net cages and fed a high energy salmon diet rich in (n–3) polyunsaturated fatty acids for 8 months. Analyses of whole body and muscle were performed at regular intervals on 1 and 2-year-old fish. The percentage of lipid and dry matter increased in whole body and muscle as the fish weight incrcased from catch to market size over the course of the following year. In all groups of fish examined the sum of fatty acids (n–3) as the percentage of total lipid in muscle decreased from 33 to 26%, while the sum of monoenoic acids increased with 10% from 39 to 49%. Vitamin E concentration of muscle increased substantially during feeding. The oxidation status of the fish muscles was very good at the end of the feeding period, with thiobarbituric acid values of less that 3 µmol kg−1. At theend of the feeding experiment large fish to be sold at market were starved for two weeks. Analyses of the nutritional and oxidative state of muscle showed that transport, slaughter and storage did not affect the lipid content or the fatty acid composition. Low and stable thiobarbituric acid values were observed, while vitamin E content significantly decreased during processing and storage at −30 °C, which indicates that vitamin E was an effective antioxidant in mackerel muscle.