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The effect of diet and condition score on fasting heat production of non-producing dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

J.W. Birnie
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland
R.E. Agnew
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland
F.J. Gordon
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland
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Extract

The metabolisable energy (ME) requirement for maintenance (MEm) has been derived from measurements of fasting heat production (FHP) with non-lactating cattle, with, for example, ARC (1980) using published data on steers to develop equations to calculate the MEm of dairy cattle. Recent studies at this Institute (Yan et al. 1997 a&b) have produced estimates of MEm, through either direct measurement of FHP, or the use of regression techniques for producing animals and concluded that MEm was higher than those in published feeding standards (ARC, 1980; AFRC, 1993). The objective of the present experiments was to explore possible reasons for the differences, such as the effect of cow body condition score (CS) on FHP and the effect of level and type of diet given during the pre-fasting period on FHP.

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Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1999

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References

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Farnham Royal, Slough SL2 3BN, England.Google Scholar
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