Dose Effect of Drinking Water Nitrate on Health, Feed Intake, Rumen Fermentation and Microbiota, and Nitrogen Excretion in Holstein Heifers for a Sustainable Water Use

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The Manuskript is about the impact of nitrate in drinking water on heifer health and nitrogen excretions. This is a topical issue in agriculture, especially in Europe, and the consequences of over-fertilisation of fields. The study is well planned, conducted and analysed and the results are clearly highlighted and discussed.

I would like to thank the authors for conducting and presenting the study and congratulate them on this very nice article.

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Drinking water for livestock is very important for livestock production, so this study has strong novelty and significant implications for production. This research evaluate  that  drinking water nitrate on health, feed intake, rumen fermentation and microbiota, and nitrogen excretion in dairy beef heifers, the results will give more guidlines, but there is still some problems, as follows:

1. In the preface, please provide more research progress on ruminant drinking water to highlight the innovation of this study.

2. In the materials and methods section, please supplement the basic diet formula and nutritional content.

3. In the Results and Discussion section, please provide more discussion, explain in depth why this situation occurred, clarify the reasons for the differences between the groups, and add more discussion.

In summary, this study has excellent novelty and important guiding significance for drinking water measures in practical production. After careful revision by the author, it may be considered for publication.

Author Response

Comment 1: In the preface, please provide more research progress on ruminant drinking water to highlight the innovation of this study.

Response 1: Thank you for pointing this out. I agree with this comment. You can found changes in lines 48-50.

Comment 2: In the materials and methods section, please supplement the basic diet formula and nutritional content.

Response 2: The basic diet formula, ingredient and nutrient compositions are stated between lines 95 and 104.

Comment 3: In the Results and Discussion section, please provide more discussion, explain in depth why this situation occurred, clarify the reasons for the differences between the groups, and add more discussion.

Response 3: Thank you for pointing this out. I’ve checked the discussion and clarified some points that I think needs improvement, as treatment effect on animal intake discussion (see changes done between lines 368 and 405). However, if there are other points you do not understand at all, specify me which ones are to focus the revision on those points.

Thank you very much for take your time to revise this manuscript!

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Review of the manuscript: sustainability-3086797 

The themes of the manuscript generally correspond to the purpose of the 'Sustainability', although I would rather recommend the 'Animals' journal. 

I find no flaws in the research methodology presented. The Authors carried out the entire experiment methodically and answered the research question: How does the quality of drinking water (NO3- concentration) for livestock influences many aspects: water and feed intake, haematological and biochemical blood parameters, digestive process parameters, nitrogen excretion and apparent total tract digestibility.

The research results obtained are presented in a clear and transparent manner. I highly appreciate the statistical analysis of the results carried out. The Authors confronted their results with the achievements of other researchers and conducted an in-depth discussion. 

I believe that the manuscript as it stands is acceptable for publication.

Comment 1

The only element of the paper that needs improvement is the title:

Dose effect of drinking water nitrate on health, feed intake, rumen fermentation and microbiota, and nitrogen excretion in dairy beef heifers for a sustainable water use

Dose effect of drinking water nitrate on health, feed intake, rumen fermentation and microbiota, and nitrogen excretion in heifers of the Holstein breed for a sustainable water use

 

 

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. The suggested change on the title has been done.