Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T04:56:48.627Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparison between a rigid rotational grazing system for dairy cows and a system in which grazing alternated with cutting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

W. Holmes ,
R. C. Campling  and
N. D. Joshi
W. Holmes
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent
R. C. Campling
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent
N. D. Joshi
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent
Get access

Summary

Two experiments were made with dairy cows in 1969 and 1970 to compare two grazing systems. Treatment A was a rigid rotational system and B was a system in which cows always grazed on an area which had been cut 4 weeks earlier for conservation. For both treatments the stocking rate was 6·2 cow/ha and fertilizer N was applied at a rate equivalent to 2·5 kg/ha per day.

Individual records of milk yield, milk composition and live weight were kept, the quality of herbage available was estimated weekly, and individual intakes were estimated by faecal index methods at approxi- mately monthly intervals. In 1969 the cows remained on the same treatment throughout the season and in 1970 a reversal design was adopted.

The quantities and quality of herbage available per cow were generally similar under both treatments. There were no significant differences in feed intake, or animal production between the treatments. High yields of 11900 kg milk and 28 000 Meal ME per hectare were recorded.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , June 1972 , pp. 283 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1972

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adeeb, N. 1970. Factors affecting the digestibility of foods by ruminants. M. Phil. Thesis, Univ. London.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council. 1965. The Nutrient Requirements of Farm Livestock, No. 2. Ruminants. Agricultural Research Council, London.Google Scholar
Anslow, R. C. and Green, J. O. 1967. The seasonal growth of pasture grasses. J. agric. Set, Camb. 68: 109–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clancy, M. J. and Wilson, R. K. 1966. Development and application of a new chemical method for predicting the digestibility and intake of herbage samples. Proc. 10th int. Grassld Congr., Helsinki, pp. 445–453.Google Scholar
Curran, M. K. and Holmes, W. 1970. Prediction of the voluntary intake of food by dairy cows. 2. Lactating grazing cows. Anim. Prod. 12: 213–224.Google Scholar
Curran, M. K., Leaver, J. D. and Weston, E. W. 1967. A note on the use of chromic oxide incorporated in a feed to estimate faecal output in ruminants. Anim. Prod. 9: 561–564.Google Scholar
Greenhalgh, J. F. D. 1970. The effects of grazing intensity on herbage production and consumption and on milk production in strip-grazed dairy cows. Proc. 11th int. Grassld Congr., Surfers' Paradise, pp. 856–60.Google Scholar
Greenhalgh, J. F. D. and Reid, G. W. 1969. The effects of grazing intensity on herbage consumption and animal production. 3. Dairy cows grazed at two intensities on clean or contaminated pasture. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 72: 223–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, W. 1968. The use of nitrogen in the management of pasture for cattle. Herb. Abstr. 38: 265–277.Google Scholar
Leaver, J. D., Campling, R. C. and Holmes, W. 1969. The influence of flexible and rigid grazing management and of supplementary feed on output per hectare and per cow. Anim. Prod. 11: 161–172.Google Scholar
Marsh, R. and Campling, R. C. 1970. Dung fouling of pasture by grazing animals, with special reference to cattle. Herb. Abstr. 40: 123–130.Google Scholar
Marsh, R., Campling, R. C. and Holmes, W. 1971. A further study of a rigid grazing management system for dairy cows. Anim. Prod. 13: 441–448.Google Scholar
Waite, R. 1963. Grazing behaviour. In Animal Health, Production and Pasture, (ed. Worden, A. N., Sellers, K. C. and Tribe, D. E.) Longmans, London.Google Scholar
Yiakoumettis, I. 1971. Studies on forage conservation and pasture utilisation. M. Phil. Thesis, Univ. London.Google Scholar