Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:52:47.592Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An examination of energy utilization in lactating dairy cows receiving a total mixed ration based on maize silage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

S. B. Cammell
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research (CEDAR), Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
D. E. Beever
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research (CEDAR), Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
J. D. Sutton
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research (CEDAR), Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
J. France
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research (CEDAR), Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
the late G. Alderman
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research (CEDAR), Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
D. J. Humphries
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research (CEDAR), Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AT, UK
Get access

Abstract

Six multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows were offered a total mixed ration based on maize silage in a repeated measure design to evaluate the partition of gross energy (GE) during early to mid lactation. Four measurements were made at 6-week intervals with energy and nitrogen balances carried out in open-circuit respiration chambers over 6 days during lactation weeks 6, 12, 18 and 24. The intakes of total diet dry matter (DM) corrected for volatile losses (VCDM), organic matter (OM) and GE declined significantly (P < 0•01) as lactation progressed, although apparent digestibility of these fractions was not altered, resulting in a significant (P < 0•01) decline in digestible nutrient intake at each stage of lactation. Methane and urine energy losses were not significantly affected, resulting in significantly (P < 0·001) higher amounts of digestible energy (DE) partitioned to methane and urine as lactation progressed with associated significant reductions in metabolizable energy (ME) intake (MEI) (P < 0·01) and ME as a proportion of DE (P < 0·001) and GE (q) (P < 0·05). With advancing lactation there was a significant (P < 0·001) increase in the amount of ME partitioned to heat (HP/MEI), but no significant change in the amount partitioned to milk and tissue. Individual values for diet metabolizability (ME/GE) at actual (production) levels (qa) (mean 0·625 MJ/MJ) were corrected to an equivalent value at maintenance (qmc) (mean 0·666 MJ/MJ). The overall ME intakes (MJ/day) were: ad libitum, 246, corrected for level of feeding effect, 263, with a predicted ME requirement according to AFRC (1993) (MER93) of 242. Substitution of the calculated qmc into the predictive equations (AFRC, 1993) resulted in a mean maintenance requirement of 57·6 MJ/day (0·464 MJ/kg M0·75/day) whilst the mean value derived from the linear model describing the experimental data was 82·5 MJ/day (0·664 MJ/kg M0·75/day). The mean efficiencies of utilization of ME for milk production derived from AFRC (1993) and the linear regression model were 0·653 MJ/MJ and 0·625 MJ/MJ respectively.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agricultural and Food Research Council. 1990. Nutritive requirements of ruminant animals: energy. Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients. Report no. 5. Nutrition Abstract and Reviews, Series B 60: 729804.Google Scholar
Agricultural and Food Research Council. 1993. Energy and protein requirements of ruminants. An advisory manual prepared by the Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The nutrient requirements of ruminant livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Armstrong, D. G. and Blaxter, K. L. 1984. Maintenance requirement: implications for its use in feed evaluation systems. In Herbivore nutrition in the subtropics and tropics (ed. Gilchrist, F.M. H. and Mackie, R. I.), pp. 631647. The Science Press, Craighall, SA.Google Scholar
Aston, K., Thomas, C., Daley, S. R., Sutton, J. D. and Dhanoa, M. S. 1994. Milk production from grass silage diets: effects of silage characteristics and the amount of supplementary concentrate. Animal Production 59: 3141.Google Scholar
Baldwin, R. L. and Bywater, A. C. 1984. Nutritional energetics of animals. Annual Review of Nutrition 4: 101114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beever, D. E., Cammell, S. B., Spooner, M. C., Humphreys, D. J. and Haines, M. J. 1991. Effect of defined manipulation of nutrient supply on energy and protein utilisation by dairy cows. Proceedings of the 12th energy metabolism symposium, European Association for Animal Production, Ittingen, Switzerland (ed. Wenk, C., and Boessinger, M.), pp. 325328. ETH, Zurich.Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Cammell, S. B., Sutton, J. D. and Humphries, D. J. 1998a. The effect of stage of harvest of maize silage on the concentration and efficiency of utilization of metabolizable energy by lactating dairy cows. In Energy metabolism of farm animals (ed. McCracken, K., Unsworth, E. F. and Wylie, A.R. G.). Proceedings of the 14th international symposium on energy metabolism, pp. 359362. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Cammell, S. B., Sutton, J. D., Rowe, N. and Perrott, G. E. 1998b. Energy metabolism in high yielding cows. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, 1998, p. 13 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Cammell, S. B., Sutton, J. D., Spooner, M. C., Haines, M. J. and Harland, J. I. 1989. Effect of concentrate type on energy utilisation in lactating dairy cows. In Energy metabolism of farm animals (ed. Honing, Y.van der and Close, W. H.). Proceedings of the 11th symposium, Lunteren, Netherlands, 1824 September 1988, EAAP publication no. 43, pp. 3336. PUDOC, Wageningen.Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Hattan, A., Reynolds, C. K. and Cammell, S. B. 2000. Nutrient supply to high-yielding dairy cows. Fertility in the high producing dairy cow, BSAS Workshop, 2022, September, Galway, Ireland. BSAS Occasional. Publication, In press.Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Offer, N. and Gill, E. M. 1999. The feeding value of grass and grass products. In Grass — its production and utilisation (ed. A. Hopkins), pp. 140190. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. 1962. The energy metabolism of ruminants. Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Brody, S. 1945. Bioenergetics and growth. Reinhold Publishing, New York.Google Scholar
Brouwer, E. 1965. Report of Sub-committee on Constants and Factors. In Energy metabolism. (ed. Blaxter, K. L.), European Association for Animal Production publication no. 11, pp. 441443. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Cammell, S. B., Beever, D. E., Skelton, K. V. and Spooner, M. C. 1981. The construction of open-circuit calorimeters for measuring gaseous exchange and heat production in sheep and young cattle. Laboratory Practice 30: 115119.Google Scholar
Cammell, S. B., Haines, M. J., Gill, M., Dhanoa, M. S., France, J. and Beever, D. E. 1993. Examination of energy utilisation in cattle offered a forage diet at near- and sub-maintenance levels of feeding. British Journal of Nutrition 70: 381392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cammell, S. B., Thomson, D. J., Beever, D. E., Haines, M. J., Dhanoa, M. S. and Spooner, M. C. 1986. The efficiency of energy utilisation in growing cattle consuming fresh perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. Melle) or white clover (Trifolium repens cv. Blanca). British Journal of Nutrition 55: 669680.Google Scholar
Es, A. J. H. van. 1975. Feed evaluation for dairy cows. Livestock Production Science 2: 95107.Google Scholar
Es, A. J. H. van. 1978. Feed evaluation for ruminants. I. The systems in use from May 1977 onwards in The Netherlands. Livestock Production Science 5: 331345.Google Scholar
Finney, D. J. 1962. Extrapolation — a warning. In An introduction to statistical science in agriculture, second edition. Oliver and Boyd Ltd, London.Google Scholar
France, J., Dhanoa, M. S., Cammell, S. B., Gill, M., Beever, D. E. and Thornley, J. H. M. 1989. On the use of response functions in energy balance analysis. Journal of Theoretical Biology 140: 8399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibb, M. J., Ivings, W. E., Dhanoa, M. S. and Sutton, J. D. 1992. Changes in body components of autumn-calving Holstein-Friesian cows over the first 29 weeks of lactation. Animal Production 55: 339360.Google Scholar
Gordon, F. J., Porter, M. G., Sinclair Mayne, C., Unsworth, E.F. and Kilpatrick, D. J. 1995. Effect of forage digestibility and type of concentrate on nutrient utilisation by lactating dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Research 62: 1527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, N. McC. 1982. Energy feeding standards: a methodological problem. In Energy metabolism of farm animals (ed. Ekern, A. and Sundstol, F.), European Association for Animal Production publication no. 29, pp. 108111. Agricultural University, Norway.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. 1992. Feed composition — UK tables of feed composition and nutritive value for ruminants, second edition. Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food Standing Committee on Tables of Feed Composition. Chalcombe Publications, Canterbury.Google Scholar
Moe, P. W., Flatt, W. P. and Tyrell, H. F. 1972. Net energy value of feeds for lactation. Journal of Dairy Science 55: 945958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moe, P. W. and Tyrrell, H. F. 1976. Estimating metabolizable and net energy in feeds. In Proceedings of the first international symposium on feed composition, animal nutrient requirements and computerization of diets (ed. Fonnesbeck, P. V., Harris, L. E. and Kearl, L. C.), pp. 232236. Utah State University, Logan.Google Scholar
National Research Council. 1988. Nutrient requirements of dairy cattle, sixth revised edition. National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Patterson, D. C., Gordon, F. J., Mayne, C. S., Porter, M. G. and Unsworth, E. F. 1995. The effects of genetic merit on nutrient utilisation in lactating dairy cows. In Breeding and feeding the high genetic merit dairy cow (ed. Lawrence, T. L. J., Gordon, F. J. and Carson, A.), British Society of Animal Science occasional publication no. 19, pp. 9798.Google Scholar
Porter, M. G., Patterson, D. C., Steen, R. W. J. and Gordon, F. J. 1984. Determination of dry matter and gross energy of grass silage. Proceedings of the seventh silage conference, The Queen’s University, Belfast.Google Scholar
Reynolds, C. K. and Beever, D. E. 1995. Energy requirements and responses: a UK perspective. In Breeding and feeding the high genetic merit dairy cow (ed. Lawrence, T. L. J., Gordon, F. J. and Carson, A.), British Society of Animal Science occasional publication no. 19, pp. 3150.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. D., Abdalla, A. L., Phipps, R. H., Cammell, S. B. and Humphries, D. J. 1997. The effect of the replacement of grass silage by increasing proportions of urea-treated whole-crop wheat on food intake and apparent digestibility and milk production by dairy cows. Animal Science 65: 343351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutton, J. D., Cammell, S. B., Beever, D. E., Haines, M. J., Spooner, M. C. and Harland, J. I. 1991. The effect of energy and protein sources on energy and nitrogen balances in Friesian cows in early lactation. In Proceedings of the 12th energy metabolism symposium, European Association for Animal Production, Ittingen, Switzerland (ed. Wenk, C., and Boessinger, M.), pp. 288291. ETH, Zurich.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. D., Cammell, S. B., Beever, D. E., Humphries, D. J. and Phipps, R. H. 1998. Energy and nitrogen balance of lactating dairy cows given mixtures of urea-treated whole-crop wheat and grass silage. Animal Science 67: 203212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyrrell, H. F. and Moe, P. W. 1975. Effect of intake on digestive efficiency. Journal of Dairy Science 58: 1151.Google Scholar
Tyrrell, H. F. and Reid, J. T. 1965. Prediction of the energy value of cow’s milk. Journal of Dairy Science 48: 12151223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Unsworth, E. F., Mayne, C. S., Cushnahan, A. and Gordon, F. J. 1994. The energy utilisation of grass silage diets by lactating dairy cows. In Energy metabolism of farm animals (ed. Aguilera, J. F.). European Association for Animal Production publication no. 76, pp. 179181.Google Scholar
Wagner, D. G. 1965. Studies on the energy requirements of high producing dairy cows. Ph.D. thesis, Cornell University. University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan.Google Scholar
Webster, A. J. F. 1978. Prediction of the energy requirements for growth in beef cattle. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 30: 189226.Google Scholar
Webster, A. J. F., Brockway, J. M. and Smith, J. S. 1974. Prediction of the energy requirements for growth in beef cattle. 1. The irrelevance of fasting metabolism. Animal Production 19: 127139.Google Scholar
Yan, T., Gordon, F. J., Agnew, R. E., Porter, M. G. and Patterson, D. C. 1997a. The metabolisable energy requirement for maintenance and the efficiency of utilisation of metabolisable energy for lactation by dairy cows offered grass silage based diets. Livestock Production Science 51: 141150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, T., Gordon, F. J., Ferris, C. P., Agnew, R. E., Porter, M. G. and Patterson, D. C. 1997b. The fasting heat production and effect of lactation on energy utilisation by dairy cows offered forage based diets. Livestock Production Science 52: 177186.Google Scholar