Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T22:03:40.585Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Studies of method of conserving grass herbage and frequency of feeding in cattle

2. Eating behaviour, rumen motility and rumen fill

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

L. R. L. Thiago ,
M. Gill  and
J. W. Sissons
L. R. L. Thiago
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
M. Gill
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
J. W. Sissons
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The influence of the method of conserving grass herbage and the frequency of feeding on eating behaviour, rumen motility and rumen fill was studied in growing steers. Silage and hay were offered to twelve rumen-cannulated Friesian steers (average initial live weight (LW) 128 kg) at a restricted level of intake (20 g dry matter (DM)/kg LW) either once or eight times daily. With once daily feeding, the daily intake of hay was consumed in a single large meal which lasted about 2 h, while silage was eaten in many small meals throughout the day. The proportion of the day spent ruminating was higher (0·39) for steers offered hay once daily than for those offered silage (0·28) or hay eight times per day (0·29). There was little effect of conservation method on frequency of rumen contraction, but contractile intensity (integration of frequency and amplitude) increased during the second half of the 24 h feeding cycle in steers offered hay either once daily or eight times daily, while the same effect was only observed when silage was offered once daily. Total daily contractile activity (the integration of the frequency and duration of myoelectric spike bursts) was significantly (P < 0·05) higher in steers offered hay, compared with silage, once daily. The mean weight of organic matter in the reticulo-rumen of steers offered hay was significantly higher than for silage both with once (1593 v. 1326 g organic matter (OM)/100 kg LW, P < 0·01) and eight (1367 v. 1160 g OM/100 kg LW, P < 0·05) times daily feeding. The proportion of the particulate pool which was present as small (< 1·2 mm) particles was always greater than 0·60.

Keywords

Grass herbage conservationFeeding frequencyEating behaviourRumen motility and fillSteer
Type
Effects of Diet on Food Intake of Cattle
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 67 , Issue 3 , May 1992 , pp. 319 - 336
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1992

References

REFERENCES

Aitchison, E. M. (1985). A study of the removal of fibre from the rumen and voluntary intake of sheep eating hay diets. PhD Thesis, University of Reading.Google Scholar
Aitchison, E. M., Gill, M., Dhanoa, M. S. & Osbourn, D. F. (1986a) The effect of digestibility of forage species on the removal of digesta from the rumen and the voluntary intake of hay by sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 56, 463–476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aitchison, E. M., Gill, M. & Osbourn, D. F. (1986b). The effect of supplementation with maize starch and level of intake of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne cv. Endura) hay on the removal of digesta from the rumen of sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 56, 477–486.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alexander, C. L., Meyer, R. M. & Bartley, E. E. (1969). Rumen removal rates of some chemically defined fractions of 14-C labelled alfalfa. Journal of Animal Science 29, 746–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bines, J. A. (1976) Regulation of food intake in dairy cows in relation to milk production. Livestock Production Science 3, 115–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Graham, McC. & Wainman, F. W. (1956) Some observations on the digestibility of food by sheep and on related problems. British Journal of Nutrition 10, 69–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buchanan-Smith, J. G. (1989). Effect of soluble constituents of silage on oro-pharyngeal intake response of sheep. Animal Production 48, 638 Abstr.Google Scholar
Campling, R. C. (1966) The intake of hay and silage by cows. Journal of the British Grassland Society 21, 41–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campling, R. C. & Balch, C. C. (1961) Factors affecting the voluntary intake of food by cows. 1. Preliminary observations on the effect, on the voluntary intake of hay, of changes in the amount of the reticulo-rumen contents. British Journal of Nutrition 15, 523–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, E. W., Pearce, G. R., Burnett, J. & Pillinger, S. L. (1973) Changes in some physical characteristics of the digesta in the reticulo-rumen of cows fed once daily. British Journal of Nutrition 29, 357–376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freer, M. & Campling, R. C. (1963) Factors affecting the voluntary intake of food by cows. 5. The relationship between the voluntary intake of food, the amount of digesta in the reticulo-rumen and the rate of disappearance of digesta from the alimentary tract with diets of hay, dried grass or concentrates. British Journal of Nutrition 17, 79–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freer, M., Campling, R. C. & Balch, C. C. (1962) Factors affecting the voluntary intake of food by cows. 4. The behaviour and reticular motility of cows receiving diets of hay, oat straw and oat straw with urea. British Journal of Nutrition 16, 279–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Genstat, (1977) A General Statistical Program. Harpenden, Herts: Rothamsted Experimental Station.Google Scholar
Gill, M., Sargeant, A. & Evans, R. T. (1987). The effect of type of silage and level of concentrate on pattern of eating in dairy cows. In Proceedings of the 8th Silage Conference, pp. 63–64. Hurley: AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production.Google Scholar
Greenhalgh, J. F. D., Reid, G. W. (1967) Separating the effects of digestibility and palatability on food intake in ruminant animals. Nature 214, 744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, L. E. & Phillipson, A. T. (1962) The measurement of the flow of food to the duodenum of sheep. Animal Production 4, 97–116.Google Scholar
Ingalls, J. R., Thomas, J. W., Tesar, M. B. & Carpente, D. L. (1966) Relations between ad libitum intake of several forage species and gut fill. Journal of Animal Science 25, 283–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, P. M. (1984). Summary and conclusions from discussion. In Techniques in Particle Size Analysis of Feed and Digesta in Ruminants. Canadian Society of Animal Production. Occasional Publication no. 1, pp. 184–186. Edmonton: Canadian Society of Animal Science.Google Scholar
Kennedy, P. M. & Milligan, L. P. (1984). Particle kinetics in the rumen: comminution and passage. Paper presented at the second research co-ordination meeting on ‘Isotope-aided studies on the non-protein nitrogen and agro-industrial byproducts utilization by ruminants with particular reference to developing countries’. VIC Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
Leibholz, J. (1984). Roughage intake comparisons between calves and adult cattle. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 64, suppl., 154–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLeod, M. N. (1986). Physical and biological factors controlling the reduction of feed particles in the ruminant. PhD Thesis, University of Queensland, Australia.Google Scholar
Martin, F. H. & Baile, C. A. (1972) Ruminal wall anaesthesia and feed intake of goats. Journal of Animal Science 31, 248.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1966) The apparent retention of food in the reticulo-rumen at two levels of feeding by means of an hourly feeding technique. British Journal of Nutrition 20, 765–773.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moseley, G. & Jones, J. R. (1984). The physical digestion of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and white clover (Trifolium repens) in the foregut of sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 52, 381–390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Penning, P. D. (1983) A technique to record automatically some aspects of grazing and ruminating behaviour in sheep. Grass and Forage Science 38, 89–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, G. D. & Dyck, G. W. (1964) The flow of digesta into the duodenum of sheep. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 44, 220–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poppi, D. P., Minson, D. J. & Ternouth, J. H. (1981a) Studies of cattle and sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. I. The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time in the reticulo-rumen. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poppi, D. P., Minson, D. J. & Ternouth, J. H. (1981b) Studies of cattle and sheep eating leaf and stem fractions of grasses. III. The retention time in the rumen of large feed particles. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 123–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poppi, D. P., Norton, B. W., Minson, D. J. & Hendricksen, R. E. (1980) The validity of the critical size theory for particles leaving the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 275–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, C. S. W. (1963) Diet and motility of the forestomachs of the sheep. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 23, 169–188.Google Scholar
Reid, C. S. W. (1984). The progress of solid feed residues through the reticulo-rumen: the ins and outs of particles. In Ruminant Physiology. Concepts and Consequences, pp. 79–84 [Baker, S. K., Gawthorne, J. M., Macintosh, J. B. and Purser, D. B., editors]. Perth: University of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Ross, G. J. S. (1980) MLP: Maximum Likelihood Program. Harpenden, Herts: Rothamsted Experimental Station.Google Scholar
Ruckebusch, Y. (1970) The electrical activity of the digestive tract of the sheep as an indication of the mechanical events in various regions. Journal of Physiology 210, 857–882.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sissons, J. W., Gill, M. & Thiago, L. R. S. (1986) Effect of conservation method and frequency of feeding on forestomach motility. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 45, 96A.Google Scholar
Sutherland, T. M. (1987). Particle separation in the forestomachs of sheep. In Comparative Aspects of Physiology of Digestion in Ruminants, pp. 43–73 [Dobson, A. and Dobson, J. M., editors]. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Thiago, L. R. S. & Gill, M. (1986) Effect of conservation method and frequency of feeding on the removal of digesta from the rumen. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 45, 97A.Google Scholar
Thiago, L. R. S., Gill, M. & Dhanoa, M. S. (1992) Studies of method of conserving grass herbage and frequency of feeding in cattle. 1. Voluntary feed intake, digestion and rate of passage. British Journal of Nutrition 67, 305–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomas, S. & Campling, R. C. (1977) Comparisons of some factors affecting digestibility in sheep and cows. Journal of the British Grassland Society 32, 140–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J., Dellow, D. W., John, A., Reid, C. S. W. & Waghorn, G. C. (1986). Contribution of chewing during eating and rumination to the clearance of digesta from the ruminoreticulum. In Control of Digestion and Metabolism in Ruminants, pp. 498–515 [Milligan, L. P., Grovum, W. L. and Dobson, A., editors]. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J., Waghorn, G. C., John, A., Reid, C. S. W. & Monro, J. (1984) Effect of intake and feeding frequency on feeding behaviour and quantitative aspects of digestion in sheep fed chaffed lucerne hay. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 102, 645–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waghorn, G. C. & Reid, C. S. W. (1983) Rumen motility in sheep and cattle given different diets. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 26, 289–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welch, J. G. (1982) Rumination, particle size and passage from the rumen. Journal of Animal Science 54, 885–894.CrossRefGoogle Scholar