Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-pfhbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T18:18:17.495Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of amount offered on the intake and selection of barley straw by growing cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

E. Owen
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT
F. L. Mould
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT
Get access

Abstract

A 28-day experiment with 12 9-month-old cattle (275 kg initial weight, M1), used a 2 × 2 arrangement of treatments to compare the effect of doubling the ad-libitum quantity of long barley straw offered daily (25 or 50 g dry matter (DM) per kg M1) and sex/genotype (Limousin × Friesian steers or Friesian heifers) on intake and selection. All animals received a protein concentrate at 20 g DM per kg M10·75 per day. Prior to the experiment the cattle had grazed for 6 months and were given no pre-experimental change-over period. On day 1 animals were weighed (M1), allocated to treatment and penned individually. Animals were weighed on day 28 (M2). Doubling the amount offered did not affect straw intake (g DM per kg M3 per day; M3 = mean of M1 and M2) during days 22 to 28 (steers: 17·9, 17·2; heifers 14·3, 13·3; s.e. 0·50) but increased the proportion (g DM per kg DM offered) refused (steers: 258, 635; heifers: 412, 721; s.e. 22). During days 22 to 28, at each level of offer (25, 50), refused straw contained (g DM per kg DM) less leaf-plus-sheath than offered straw (25 g steers: 251, 430, s.e. 16·7; 50 g steers: 393, 450, s.e. 19·7; 25 g heifers: 304, 420, s.e. 7·2; 50 g heifers: 405, 446, s.e. 9·6). The sex/genotype effect on intake was attributed to differences in growth potential. Straw intakes increased significantly over the first 14 days, but there were no differences between days 15 to 21 and days 22 to 28. It is concluded that an excess-feeding strategy, involving a doubling of the ad libitum amount of barley straw offered did not result in growing cattle consuming more straw, in contrast to published results with sheep and goats. However, the cattle did show a limited ability to selectively consume leaf-plus-sheath in preference to stem but the improvement in diet digestible organic content (estimated in vitro) was presumably insufficient to stimulate intake.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1999

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

Aboud, A. A. O., Owen, E., Said, A. N., Gill, M. and McAllan, A. B. 1993. Feeding sorghum stover to Ethiopian goats and sheep: effect of amount offered on intake, selection and performance. In Animal production in developing countries (ed. Gill, M. Owen, E. Pollott, G. E. and Lawrence, T. L. J.), pp. 202203. British Society of Animal Production occasional publication no. 16.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The nutrient requirements of ruminant livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council. 1984. The nutrient requirements of ruminant livestock, supplement no. 1. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 1984. Official methods of analysis, 14th edition. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Wainman, F. W. and Wilson, R. S. 1961. The regulation of food intake by sheep. Animal Production 3: 5162.Google Scholar
Methu, J. N., Owen, E., Abate, A., Scarr, M. and Tanner, J. 1997. Effect of offering three amounts of maize stover to dairy cows on intake and selection. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, 1997, p. 85 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Osafo, E. L. K., Owen, E., Said, A. N., Gill, M. and Sherington, J. 1997. Effects of amount offered and chopping on intake and selection of sorghum stover by Ethiopian sheep and cattle. Animal Science 65: 5562.Google Scholar
Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 1987. Procedures guide for personal computers, version 6 edition. SAS Institute, Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Tilley, J. M. and Terry, R. A. 1963. A two-stage technique for the in vitro digestion of forage crops. Journal of the British Grassland Society 18: 104111.Google Scholar
Wahed, R. A., Owen, E., Naate, M. and Hosking, B. J. 1990. Feeding straw to small ruminants: effect of amount offered on intake and selection of barley straw by goats and sheep. Animal Production 51: 283289.Google Scholar