Energy expenditure of cattle walking on a flat terrain

Abstract

A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of horizontal walking upon CO 2 production rate by the carbon dioxide dilution rate technique. This was used as an indicator of animal energy expenditure. Two groups of three 18month-old Aberdeen-Angus steers were assigned to two experiments. Average weights were 290 (s.e. 7-6) kg and 285 (s.e. 1-0) kg for experiments 1 and 2 respectively. Animals were allocated to individual pens and given 5-0 and 4-5 kg dry matter of a mixed diet for experiments 1 and 2 respectively. After a 45-day training period they were assigned to three walking treatments: 0 (T o ), 3 (T 3 ) and 6 (T 2 ) km at 3 km/hfor 3 days in a Latin square design (3 X 3). U C labelled sodium bicarbonate (5-4 nCi/h), diluted in carbonate-bicarbonate buffer sterile solution 0-1 mol/l, was infused for 92 h intraperitoneally with portable peristaltic pumps carried by the animals. The CO 2 production rate was calculated as the ratio between the rate of infusion (nCi/h) and the specific activity ofCO z ([iCi/ml CO 2 ) in saliva samples, which were taken, in experiment 1, as an average of the day (09.00 to 16.00 h) and the night (16.00 to 09.00 h of the following day). In experiment 2 the day was divided as follows: prior to activity (09.00 to 13.00 h), activity (14.00 and 15.00 h) and post activity (16.00 h). CO 2 production rate (ml CO 2 per h per kg M 075 ) at resting was 817 (412 kj/kg M 075 ), increasing during walking to 1-46 of the resting level (T : and T 2 , experiment 2) with no differences between the 1st and 2nd h of activity. One hour post activity, the CO 2 production rate returned in T 2 to the level ofT 0 but in T 2 remained at 1-28 times that ofT 0 . The average CO 2 production rate during a complete day or night (experiment 1) was not affected significantly by the activity. Assuming that CO 2 production rate during walking is 1-46 of resting (experiment 2) and remains at that level even at lower speeds, it can be estimated that a daily 6 km walk would increase resting energy expenditure from 1-04 when walking takes 2 h, as in this experiment (3 km/h), to 1-11 when the animal spends 6h(l km/h).

Effects of grazing on deposition of chemical body components, energy retention and plasma hormones in steers

“…It has been calculated that the energy expenditure of grazing animals increases from 17 to 35% depending on the grazing conditions (Osuji 1974; Di Marco et al . 1996; Mendez et al . 1996).…”

A holstein cow–calf model for the transfer of ciprofloxacin through milk after a long‐term intravenous infusion

“…The continuous intravenous infusion of a sterile antibiotic solution of ciprofloxacin administered with a human ambulatory pump system simplifies the procedure in unrestrained dairy cows. The ambulatory infusion pump model has a long history of use in human medicine for the home care delivery of antibiotic solutions, and the ambulatory pumps have also been used in animal metabolic studies (Di Marco et al ., ; Mendez et al ., ; Di Marco & Aello, ). The intravenous solution of ciprofloxacin was delivered continuously to the cow to establish a steady‐state plasma level of this antibiotic.…”

Model components of forage-fed cattle systems: energy expenditure of grazing cattle and prediction of intake in dairy cows /

“…Recent studies reported lower estimations of the energetic cost of walking. With the use of the C0 2 entry rate technique, Mendez et al . (1996) estimated the energy requirement of walking for Angus steers that were led by a rope outdoors for 1 or 2 hours at a speed of 3 km/h.…”

“…Sahlu et al(1988) describe a relationship of HP and C0 2 production as: HP (kcal/kg BW 075 /day) = 13.91 + 4.39 C02 (L/kg BW 0 -75 ) A multichannel pump has been used for continuous injection of NaH 14 C0 3 and sampling of saliva to determine the specific activity of C0 2 (Sanchez and Morris, 1984;Sahlu et al . , 1988;Mendez et al . , 1996).…”