Effects of the amount of barley and time of access to grass silage on the voluntary intake, eating behaviour and production of dairy cows

Self Cite

Section: Experiments Jsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Eating behaviour, social dominance and voluntary intake of silage in group‐fed milking cattle

Harb

Reynolds

Campling

1985

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“…Among the fourteen cows hay intake was significantly correlated with duration of eating but not with the average daily rate of eating. The same result was also observed with milking cows offered silage ad libitum (Harb and Campling, 1983). However, no measurements of rate of eating at different times of day were made in either study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Variation among pregnant, non‐lactating dairy cows in eating and ruminating behaviour, digestibility and voluntary intake of hay

Harb

Campling

1985

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The variation between non-lactating British Friesian cows in eating and ruminating pattern, digestibility and voluntary intake of hay were measured about 4 weeks before calving. Among fourteen of the cows the daily duration of eating ranged from 214 to 462 min and rumination from 410 to 599 min with CV of 20 and 14 respectively. Daily hay intake varied between cows from 5-93 to 11 • 18 kg dry matter (DM) with a CV of 14. The mean digestibility coefficient of organic matter measured in nineteen cows was 0-57 + 0 014 s.d. and of cellulose 0 70 + 0 013 s.d. Intake of hay and cellulose digestibility were correlated (r = 0-51, P<0-05). There was a positive correlation between hay intake and duration of eating (r=0-64, P<00\) but not between intake of hay and rate of eating. Daily time spent ruminating per kg hay DM eaten was negatively correlated with hay intake (r = 0-66, P<00\). It is concluded that variation between cows in chewing time and in digestibility of cellulose may be important factors related to variation between cows in voluntary intake of hay.

“…Incremental increases in DMD and OMD with increasing level of either barley or sugar beet pulp additive were consistent with the retention of a large proportion of these highly digestible components within the silage. The depression of silage intake with concentrate supplementation is well documented (Campling and Murdoch, 1966;Griffiths et al, 1973;Harb and Campling, 1983) and is normally associated with an increase in total intake. A similar depression in intake of the herbage component of the silage was apparent when barley and sugar beet had been added to silages at the higher level of addition (proportionally around 0-2), and the lack of an increase in total dry matter intake was not entirely unexpected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of dry feed additives on the nutritive value of silage

Moseley

Ramanathan

1989

Silages were prepared in late September from a mixed crop of perennial ryegrass and white clover with low dry matter and high nitrogen content. Six different treatments were used during ensiling; addition of either molassed sugar beet pulp or rolled barley, at 50 kg and 25 kg (t fresh grass)"', fonnic acid at 5 11~' and no additive (control).All silages were well fermented with low levels of ammonia and pH. The addition of rolled barley or sugar beet pulp increased the dry matter content ofthe silages incrementally and appeared to assist the retention of nitrogen in the silage.Dry matter intakes of silages with 50 kg of barley or sugar beet pulp tonne"' were similar to the control silage when fed to wether sheep but at 25 kg t"', dry matter intake increased by 0-15 with barley and 0-04 with sugar beet pulp compared to the control. The digestibility of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) were significantly higher than the control for silages treated with formic acid or high levels of barley and sugar beet pulp whereas neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility did not appear to be significantly affected.All treated silages had a significantly higher metabolizable energy (ME) content than the control, and additions of barley or sugar beet increased the ME content. The ME intakes of all treated silages were also significantly greater than those of the control, and the formic acid-treated and low barley silages were the highest. This Correspondence: Mr G. Moseley, Institute of Grassland and Animal Production; Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth, Dyfed. SY23 3EB. UK.appeared to be associated with significantly higher energy digestibility and DM intake.Addition of rolled barley during ensilage resulted in greater nitrogen intake, availability and retention compared to additions of sugar beet pulp. The higher retention with barley silages was associated with a significantly lower proportional loss of absorbed nitrogen in urine, which indicated a more efficient utilization of nitrogen.These differences require further study to determine the mechanisms involved in the interactions between the energy source and herbage protein, both during fermentation and in the rumen.