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A note on the optimum level of roughage inclusion in the diet of the early-weaned calf

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

Delana B. Thomas
Affiliation:
Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG
C. E. Hinks
Affiliation:
Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG
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Abstract

Forty purchased male Hereford ♂ × Friesian ♀ calves (about 14 days old) were offered concentrate diets containing 0, 170, 230 or 320 g chopped (20 mm) straw per kg. Food intake and live-weight gains of calves were increased by the inclusion of straw, but the 320 g straw treatment tended to depress intake and gain. The optimum concentration of fibre for maximizing live-weight gains was 150 g trichloracetic acid fibre per kg of diet (220 g chopped straw per kg).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1983

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References

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