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An examination of the metabolizable energy requirements of lactating dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

S.B. Cammell
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research, Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AT
M.S. Dhanoa
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland & Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. SY23 3EB
D.E. Beever
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research, Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AT
J.D. Sutton
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research, Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AT
J. France
Affiliation:
Centre for Dairy Research, Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AT
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Extract

The last 4 decades has seen considerable research effort directed towards quantifying the energy requirements of dairy cows. The partitioning of food energy and the efficiencies with which it is used for maintenance (km) and milk production (kl) have been subjected to scrutiny through either individual animal studies or mathematical treatment of data pools, and in consequence several rationing systems have been proposed. Since 1992, CEDAR has undertaken research involving a series of rations fed to lactating Holstein-Friesian cows where energy and nitrogen balances have been conducted simultaneous with gaseous exchange. The purpose of this study was to consider this data in order to establish if either the cows or diets currently being used in the UK have any effect on maintenance metabolizable energy [ME] requirements or the efficiency with which ME is utilised to support milk synthesis.

Type
Programme
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1998

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References

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