Effects of Different Dietary Astragalus Polysaccharide Supplemental Levels on Performance, Nitrogen Metabolism and Intestinal Morphology of Arctic Foxes during Winter Fur-Growing Period
ZHONG Wei, ZHANG Ting, LIU Hanlu, SUN Xuyang, LI Guangyu
State Key Laboratory of Special Economic Animal Molecular Biology, Institute of Special Animal and Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Changchun 130112, China
Abstract：
This experiment was conducted to study the effects of different dietary Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) supplemental levels on performance, nitrogen metabolism and intestinal morphology of Arctic foxes during the winter fur-growing period. Forty healthy 157-day-old male Arctic foxes with average body weight of (5 613±46) g were randomly divided into 4 groups with 10 replicates per group and 1 fox per replicate. Foxes in each group were fed basal diets supplemented with 0 (control group), 100 (group Ⅰ), 200 (group Ⅱ) and 300 mg/kg (group Ⅲ) APS, respectively. The experiment was 7 days for adaption and 40 days for trial period. The results showed as follows:1) the average daily gain of groups Ⅰ and Ⅲ was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). The ratio of feed to gain of groups Ⅰ and Ⅲ was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.01), and that of group Ⅱ was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). The body length of group Ⅰ was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). No significant differences were found in average dry matter intake and fresh fur length among all groups (P>0.05). 2) The net protein utilization of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of the control group and group Ⅲ (P<0.01), the biological value of protein of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of the control group and group Ⅲ (P<0.05). No significant differences were found in nitrogen intake, fecal nitrogen output, urine nitrogen output and nitrogen retention among all groups (P>0.05). 3) The villous height of groups Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.01). The crypt depth of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ was significantly lower than that of the control group and group Ⅲ (P<0.01). The villous height/crypt depth of groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ was significantly higher than that of the control group and group Ⅲ (P<0.01), and that of group Ⅲ was significantly higher than that of the control group (P>0.05). In conclusion, diet added 100 mg/kg APS can increase the protein utilization efficiency, improve the intestinal morphology, enhance performance of Arctic foxes during the winter fur-growing period.
. Effects of Different Dietary Astragalus Polysaccharide Supplemental Levels on Performance, Nitrogen Metabolism and Intestinal Morphology of Arctic Foxes during Winter Fur-Growing Period[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2019,V31(3): 1295-1300.
2019, Vol. 31 