Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2010
Six castrated male cattle of 350 kg live weight were used in an incomplete Latin square design to measure intake and digestibility of barley straw offered ad libitum alone and with 5 levels, 1·5 to 7·5 kg/day, of a barley and dried lucerne concentrate. Straw intake declined and total organic-matter intake increased linearly with increasing concentrate level. On average 1 kg additional organic matter as concentrate, increased total organic-matter intake by 0·68 kg. There was no evidence that the crude protein content of the whole diet affected straw consumption.