Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T17:16:24.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of protein supplements in nutrition of young grazing cattle and their subsequent productivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. W. Hennessy ,
P. J. Williamson ,
R. F. Lowe  and
D. R. Baigent
D. W. Hennessy
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, N.S.W. Agricultural Research Station, Grafton, 2460, Australia
P. J. Williamson
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, N.S.W. Agricultural Research Station, Grafton, 2460, Australia
R. F. Lowe
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Centre, Wollongbar, 2480, Australia
D. R. Baigent
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Centre, Wollongbar, 2480, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The effects of supplements of protein meal or sorghum grain given to young cattle for 140 days during their first winter and spring post-weaning, were recorded over 560 days for cattle grazing on low quality pastures in subtropical Australia. The supplements were offered to steers in four treatment groups, replicated three times, at the following rates per head to late spring: (a) mineral mix (M) + cotton-seed hulls, 90g/day (control), (b) M + protein meal, 600 g/day (protein daily), (c) as for (b) but at 2·1 kg/3·5 days (protein twice-weekly), or (d) M + sorghum grain, 560 g/day (sorghum). For the next 130 days, to late summer, only supplement (c) was continued while the remaining three groups were not supplemented. None of the supplements was offered for the final 290 days of the experiment when the steers grazed an improved pasture.

At the end of the first spring, the live weight of the steers supplemented daily and twice-weekly with protein was respectively 229 and 216 kg. These were significantly (p < 0·01) heavier than the sorghum-supplemented (174 kg) or control steers (160 kg). At the end of the first summer, the steers given supplements of protein meal twiceweekly, or daily, remained significantly heavier (265, 250 kg respectively) than sorghum-supplemented or control steers (209, 198 kg). By the second summer, the steers previously given protein supplements were still heavier than the steers from the control group (357 v. 317 kg, respectively).

In steers which were offered the protein supplement during winter and spring, samples of blood taken at the end of spring had lower (P < 0·01) plasma ratios of glycine to branched-chain amino acids (valine, leucine and isoleucine) and a lower ratio of methionine: valine, than in the steers which were not offered the supplement. These ratios were significantly (P < 0·05) correlated with live-weight change over the preceding 140 days. On this basis it was considered that the improved growth of the steers offered the protein supplements was associated with an increased availability of specific essential amino acids, which may have initiated in the steers an increased appetite for pasture D.M.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 96 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 205 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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

Alexander, R. H. & McGowan, M. (1961). A filtration procedure for the in vitro determination of digestibility of herbage. Journal of the British Grassland Society 16, 275–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broderick, G. A., Kowalczyk, T. & Satter, L. D. (1970). Milk production response to supplementation with encapsulated methionine per os or casein per abomasum. Journal of Dairy Science 53, 1714–1721.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chalmers, M. I., Cuthbertson, D. P. & Synge, R. L. M. (1954). Ruminal ammonia formation in relation to the protein requirement of sheep. I. Duodenal administration and heat processing as factors influencing fate of casein supplements. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 44, 254–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chalupa, W. (1978). Digestion and absorption of nitrogenous compounds in ruminants. Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress on Animal Feeding, pp. 211–230.Google Scholar
Cohen, R. D. H. (1972). Phosphorus nutrition of beef cattle. 1. Effect of supplementation on live weight of steers and digestibility of diet. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 12, 455–459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, R. D. H. (1974). Effect of molasses-urea supplements on digestibility of mature carpet grass (Axonopus affinis) and live-weight change of beef steers. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 14, 589–592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, R. D. H. & O'brien, A. D. (1974). Beef production from three pastures at Grafton, N.S.W. Tropical Grasslands 8, 71–79.Google Scholar
Duncan, R. C. (1967). Report on an economic survey of the beef cattle industry in the North Coast area of New South Wales. Division of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Miscellaneous Bulletin 2.Google Scholar
Egan, A. R. (1965). Nutritional status and intake regulation in sheep. II. The influence of sustained duodenal infusions of casein or urea upon, voluntary intake of low-protein roughages by sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 16, 451–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, A. E. (1964). Amino acid toxicities and imbalances. In Mammalian Protein Metabolism(ed. Munro, H. N. and Allison, J. B.), vol. 2, pp. 87–134. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Havilah, E. J., Wallis, D. M., Morris, R. & Woolnough, J. A. (1977). A microcolorimetric method for determination of ammonia in kjeldahl digests with a manual spectrophotometer. Laboratory Practice 26, 545–547.Google Scholar
Haydock, K. P. & Shaw, N. H. (1975). The comparative yield method for estimating dry matter yield of pasture. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 15, 663–670.Google Scholar
Hennessy, D. W., Dettmann, E. & Williamson, P. J. (1973). The effect of N, P, S and carbohydrate supplements on the live weight of cattle eating a matured low protein pasture. Proceedings III World Conference of Animal Production, Section 2(b), pp. 7–9.Google Scholar
Hennessy, D. W., Nolan, J. V., Norton, B. W., Ball, F. M. & Leng, R. A. (1978). The response of beef cattle to infused supplements of urea and of urea-molasses, when offered a low quality grass hay. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 18, 477–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutton, K. (1972). Control of nitrogen metabolism in the ruminant. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 31, 151–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, C. E. & Lowe, R. F. (1977). Automated amino acid analysis of feedstuff protein using the Technicon NC-2P ohromatography system. Department of Agriculture, N.S.W. Bulletin.Google Scholar
Mellinkoff, S. (1957). Digestive system. Annual Review of Physiology 19, 175–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (1975). Energy Allowances and Feeding Systems for Ruminants. Technical Bulletin 33. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Mitchell, G. R. (1976). Cattle husbandry on the North Coast. Department of Agriculture, N.S.W., Bulletin.Google Scholar
Munro, H. N. (1970). Free amino aoid pools and their role in regulation. In Mammalian Protein Metabolism (ed. Munro, H. N.), vol. 4, pp. 299–386. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishimuta, J. F., Ely, D. G. & Boling, J. A. (1974). Ruminal bypass of dietary soybean protein treated with heat, formaldehyde and tannic aoid. Journal of Animal Science 39, 952–957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salter, D. N., Daneshvar, K. & Smith, R. H. (1979). The origin of nitrogen incorporated into compounds in the rumen bacteria of steers given protein- and urea-containing diets. British Journal of Nutrition 41, 197–209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simonsen, D. G., Wertman, M., Westover, L. M. & Mehl, J. W. (1946). The determination of serum phosphate by the molybdovanate method. Journal of Biological Chemistry 166, 747–751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sparke, E. J. & Lamond, K. (1968). The influence of supplementary feeding on growth and fertility of beef heifers grazing natural pastures. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 8, 425–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, R. H. & Hogan, J. P. (1975). Relationships between intestinal protein digestion and various dietary and metabolic parameters in the forage fed sheep. Proceedings of the XII International Grasslands Congress, pp. 778–784.Google Scholar