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The use of sheep as a model to predict the relative intakes of silages by dairy cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. Cushnahan ,
F. J. Gordon ,
C. P. W. Ferris ,
D. M. B. Chestnutt  and
C. S. Mayne
A. Cushnahan
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down BT26 6DR
F. J. Gordon
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down BT26 6DR Queen's University of Belfast
C. P. W. Ferris
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down BT26 6DR
D. M. B. Chestnutt
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down BT26 6DR Queen's University of Belfast
C. S. Mayne
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down BT26 6DR Queen's University of Belfast
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Abstract

A study was carried out to determine if sheep could be used as a model for predicting the intakes of silages by cattle. Fifty ewes and 45 cows were offered five grass silages unsupplemented in two parallel randomized-block experiments over a 4-week period. Each silage had been made using the same equipment over a range of cutting dates (May, July, August 1991). The silages differed in fermentation characteristics, with lactic acid concentrations varying from 15·3 to 90·7 g/kg dry matter, and ammonia-nitrogen concentrations from 77 to 198 g/kg nitrogen. When expressed on a metabolic live-weight basis, the mean intakes of silages by cows were 2·25 times those of the sheep, with the mean intakes being 35·1 and 79·1 g/kg M0·75 for the sheep and cows respectively. However, there was no significant correlation between recorded intakes during the 4th week of the study by the two species (y (cows) = 0·62× (sheep) + 58·40; r2 = 0·03). It was concluded that sheep were not a useful model system to predict the intakes of a range of grass silages of similar chop length by dairy cows.

Keywords

cowsfood intakesheepsilage
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 59 , Issue 3 , December 1994 , pp. 415 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1994

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