14—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 18, 1972
Animals Are “Tricked” Into Eating More
Electronically controlled feeding behavior eating and size of meals. Dr. Paul
unit at Penn State shows sheep eating Wangsness, in charge of the experiments,
from rotating turnable. The device studies electronic “printout” of the
measures the frequency and length of sheep’s eating and drinking patterns.
Experiments to trick livestock
and dairy cattle into eating more
feed than they normally consume
are a new approach to more
economical meat and milk
production Such studies are
being earned out by animal
nutritionists at The Pennsylvania
State University
The Penn State scientists have
been able to increase short-term
feed intake of calves and sheep
tenfold by injecting a small
amount of tranquilizer, pen
tobarbital, into a specific area of
the brain. The studies have
shown that certain areas of the
brain control an animal’s feeding
behavior Directing the studies
were A. D. Peterson, Dr. B. R.
Baumgardt, and Dr C. A. Baile
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of the department of animal
science
The work indicates that there
are “feeding centers” in the
brains of cattle and sheep which
signal the animal to start and
stop eating. The blood acts as a
communicator between all parts
of the body and the nervous
system.
As an animal eats, end
products of digestion are .ab
sorbed from the stomach into the
blood. The end-products, or other
chemicals triggered by them, can
quickly reach the brain and
communicate a signal of being
fully fed.
Unfortunately, today’s high
energy feed rations tend to
produce a “full” signal from the
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brain and animals stop eating
before their stomachs are full.
This occurs in feedlots and dairy
operations where the trend is
toward large amounts of grain
concentrates and small amounts
of roughage. Rations high in
grain are desirable since they
produce increased yields of meat
and milk per dollar of feed.
Dr. P. J. Wangsness, a new
member of the animal nutrition
faculty, is working with the Penn
State research team to determine
exactly how the control
mechanism of feed intake works.
Such knowledge will enable
nutritionists to develop the most
economical ways for farmers to
control feeding of livestock.
Equipped with adequate in
formation, farmers could in
crease feed intake above that
now possible for milking cows
and meat producing animals. On
the other hand, farmers could
more easily limit the feed intake
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The Penn State experiments
are carried out in unique, elec
tronically controlled feeding unit.
Using a rotating turntable, the
unit allows the animal to eat and
drink whenever it desires. The
device measures the frequency
and length of eating and size of
meals. The unit helps identify
changes in levels of disestive
end-products in blood or rumen
fluid which may act to control
feed intake.
Sheep placed in the feeder units
are surgically equipped with
plastic sampling tubes. These
long tubes enable researchers to
remain outside the feeder unit
while withdrawing blood or
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rumen fluid from the undisturbed
animal.
Among end-products of
digestion that lower feed intake
are fatty acids and glucose. In
ruminants or cud-chewing
animals such as sheep and cattle,
large quanities of volatile fatty
acids are produced in the rumen
or stomach and are absorbed into
the blood. These acids can reduce
feed intake significantly.
The sheep experiments reveal
rapid changes in levels of blood
and rumen fluid metabolites such
as volatile fatty acids before,
during, or after feeding. Blood
levels of hormones, such as in
sulin, also fluctuate and may be a
part of the signal carried to the
feeding centers of the brain.
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