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A study of the voluntary intake of food and water and the lactation performance of cows given diets of varying roughage content ad libitum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. B. Owen ,
E. L. Miller  and
P. S. Bridge
J. B. Owen
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge
E. L. Miller
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge
P. S. Bridge
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
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Summary

Twelve Friesian heifers were given four dietary treatments from 2 months before first calving to the end of the first lactation. Two of the treatments involved the ad libitum feeding of a complete diet consisting of a basal concentrate meal of rolled barley with supplements, incorporated into a mixture with either hay or barley straw both coarsely ground and included at a level of 25 % of the complete mix. In the other two treatments either the hay or the straw was given ad libitum in the long form and the concentrate mix fed ad libitum from a separate self-feeder.

Full records were kept of the intake of food and water, the output and quality of the milk and of live weight. Detailed measurements were made of various aspects of rumen function using one cow on each treatment fitted with a cannula. Rumen samples were also obtained from non-fistulated cows by stomach tube.

The intake of long roughage, particularly straw, by the cow, when offered in conjunction with a separate supply of the concentrate mix, was very low and led to serious falls in milk butterfat content. Where the roughage was incorporated into the complete diet normal butterfat levels were maintained. However, apart from the depressed butterfat levels on the two long roughage treatments the health and condition of the cows remained good.

The very low intake of long straw was associated with a smaller volume of liquid in the rumen, a reduced rate of flow of liquid leaving the rumen, a lower proportion of acetic and butyric acids and a greater proportion of propionic acid in the rumen liquor and finally with a higher blood glucose content. The inclusion of milled roughage resulted in values within the normal range for volume of liquid in the rumen, flow rate of liquid from the rumen, V.F.A. proportions in the rumen liquor and blood glucose.

The intake of both food and water over the productive cycle showed a consistent pattern for all cows. Food intake reached its lowest point around calving followed by a sharp rise to a peak in the 4th month after calving and then a gradual but increasing decline. Water intake followed a similar pattern but the fluctuation was greater and the peak consumption occurred in the 3rd month of lactation. Water intake was more closely associated with D.M. intake than with milk output.

The efficiency of utilization of the complete diets containing the milled roughages is discussed in relation to comparable data from cattle fed conventionally.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , April 1968 , pp. 223 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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