A comparison of starchy and fibrous concentrates for milk production, energy utilization and hay intake by Friesian cows

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Sutton ◽  
J. A. Bines ◽  
S. V. Morant ◽  
D. J. Napper ◽  
D. J. Givens

SummaryTwenty-four Friesian cows were allocated to one of four diets for weeks 3–14 of lactation following 2 weeks on a common diet. The diets (kg air-dry feed/day) were 7–2 kg hay and 10·8 kg either starchy or fibrous concentrates (60S and 60F) or 3·5 kg hay and 14·0 kg either starchy or fibrous concentrates (80S and 80F). Rumen samples were taken by stomach tube in weeks 10 and 12 of lactation and the digestibility of the diets was measured with four cows per treatment during weeks 13 and 14. The digestibility of the same feeds was also measured in sheep at maintenance.The principal carbohydrate constituents of the concentrates were barley, wheat and cassava in the starchy concentrates and citrus pulp, sugar-beet pulp and wheat feed in the fibrous concentrates. The concentrates were designed to have similar concentrations of metabolizable energy (ME) and the diets were planned to provide similar intakes of digestible energy and crude protein.Milk yield and composition were very similar for treatments 60S and 60F. With the higher proportion of starchy concentrates (80S), milk yield was about 20% greater than on 60S, fat concentration fell severely but protein and lactose concentrations were unaffected. With the higher proportion of fibrous concentrates (80F), milk yield and the protein and lactose concentration were similar to values on 60F but fat concentration was lower, though not nearly so low as on 80S. Milk energy yield was reduced by the higher proportion of concentrates but was unaffected by type of carbohydrates. Live-weight changes were small.In both the sheep, consuming at maintenance, and the lactating cows consuming at about 3 times maintenance, digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and energy was higher with the higher concentrate diets but was unaffected by type of concentrate. The digestibility of fibre was greater with the fibrous concentrates but the effect of level of concentrate inclusion was inconsistent. Digestibility coefficients were consistently lower for the lactating cows than for the sheep.The proportion of acetic acid in the rumen volatile fatty acids in the cows was higher and the proportion of propionic acid was lower with the fibrous concentrates. The differences were much greater with the higher proportion of concentrates.During weeks 15–22 of lactation the cows were reallocated to concentrate treatments and given hay ad libitum. Hay intake was about 1 kg/day higher with the fibrous concentrates but the difference was not significant. Hay intake fell by about 0·6 kg/kg concentrate intake for both concentrate types. No significant differences in milk yield or composition were established, probably because of incomplete adaptation even after 8 weeks.It is concluded that at concentrate intakes of about 10 kg/day, the source of carbohydrate in the concentrates has little effect on milk production when the concentrates are of similar ME concentration. However, at higher levels of concentrate inclusion, although the diets may have similar ME concentrations, important differences in the yields of fat, protein and lactose occur due to carbohydrate source and these can be related to differences in rumen fermentation.


1988 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Sutton ◽  
W. H. Broster ◽  
E. Schuller ◽  
D. J. Napper ◽  
Valerie J. Broster ◽  
...  

SummaryMean digestible energy (DE) intakes of 147 cows of three parities receiving three levels of DE including one ad libitum (about 2·2, 2·6 and 3·3 multiples of maintenance (MM)) drawn from three mixed diets containing hay and 60, 75 or 90% compound were calculated.Rumen samples were taken from three-quarters of the cows at monthly intervals throughout the experiment. Molar proportions of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the rumen were not affected by stage of lactation over the 36 weeks of the experiment. The proportion of acetic acid decreased and that of propionic acid increased with greater intakes and with higher proportions of compound in the diet. The proportion of n-butyric acid was little affected by level of intake but decreased with increasing proportions of compound. In young, non-lactating cattle given the same diets but at lower levels of intake, VFA proportions were unaffected by diet composition at intakes of about 0·7 MM but at intakes of about 1·3 MM the proportion of acetate decreased and that of propionate increased when the proportion of compound was increased from 75 to 90%.The efficiency of milk energy production in relation to DE or metabolizable energy (ME) above maintenance decreased with increasing level of intake but was little affected by the proportion of compound. Partition towards live weight increased with level of intake in early lactation but not in late lactation. It also increased with higher proportions of compound in mid and late lactation but not in early lactation.Estimates of the ME requirement for live-weight change (LWC) were in reasonable agreement with recently published standards in early lactation when live weight was decreasing, but later in lactation when live-weight gain was occurring, a much higher value was calculated which is difficult to reconcile with these standards.Rumen VFA proportions were related to dietary fibre concentration and level of intake additively. The relationship to VFA proportions was close for milk fat concentration, but less so for energy partition towards live weight and none was apparent for the efficiency of ME utilization for milk energy production. It is suggested that both the reduction in milk fat concentration and the increase in milk yield in response to reductions in the fibre content of diets may be independently related to the increase in the proportion of propionate in the rumen VFA.It is concluded that further progress in studies of the dietary factors affecting the efficiency of milk production will require measurements of nutrient uptake from the digestive tract and description of milk production and LWC in terms of their chemical composition rather than energy alone.



Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2439
Author(s):  
Constantine Bakyusa Katongole ◽  
Tianhai Yan

The effect of dietary crude protein (CP) level on intake, digestibility, milk production, and nitrogen (N) use efficiency was studied. Twenty-four Holstein-Friesian cows (17 multiparous and seven primiparous) were grouped by parity, days in milk, milk yield, and live weight into six blocks of four, and randomly assigned to four total mixed ration (TMR) treatments, containing 141, 151, 177, or 210 g CP/kg dry matter (DM), over 28 day experimental periods. Apparent total-tract DM and fiber digestibilities and milk fat composition were similar across treatments. Milk protein and urea-N compositions, and urinary and manure N excretion increased linearly, while milk N efficiency (MNE) decreased linearly with increasing CP. DM intake was highest with the 177 diet, while CP intake increased linearly with increasing CP, peaking at 200 g/kg DM. Milk yield increased with CP intake for the three lower CP levels, peaking at 176 g CP/kg DM. The further increase in CP level from 177 to 210 g/kg DM did not result in improved milk yield, but resulted in decreased milk N secretion and increased urinary N excretion. In summary, milk protein composition increased linearly with increasing CP, accompanied by a linear decrease in MNE, resulting in a bell-shaped relationship between milk yield and dietary CP level.



1985 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Grainger ◽  
C. W. Holmes ◽  
Y. F. Moore

ABSTRACTSix lactating Friesian cows (three high and three low breeding index cows) were subjected to a total of 28 complete energy and nitrogen balances during early and late lactation. In addition, 12 non-lactating Friesian cows (six high and six low breeding index cows) were offered individually pasture indoors for 62 days, beginning at approx. 180 days of pregnancy. Cows within each genotype were randomly allocated to feeding levels which were nominally equivalent to their requirements for maintenance or twice maintenance. Eight of the 12 cows (four high and four low breeding index) were each subjected to two energy balance periods at approx. 210 (period 1) and 230 (period 2) days of pregnancy.When offered pasture ad libitum during lactation, cows with high breeding indexes consumed significantly more gross energy per unit of metabolic live weight (P < 0·05) than did cows with low breeding indexes, but the two genotypes did not differ in their ability to metabolize the gross energy of the food, or in the individual losses of energy in faeces, urine or methane.There were no significant differences between genotypes in their heat production at a common energy intake except during restricted feeding in early lactation when high breeding index cows produced less heat than did low breeding index cows (P < 0·05). During lactation high breeding index cows retained a higher proportion of their total energy retention (milk + body tissue energy) as milk in late lactation (P < 0·01) but not in early lactation.For non-lactating cows, both genotypes required similar amounts of metabolizable energy to maintain zero maternal body energy retention, 0·79 and 0·80 MJ/M0·75 for periods 1 and 2 respectively. The efficiency with which metabolizable energy was converted to net energy (kg) was similar for both genotypes at both stages of pregnancy, the mean value being 0·52. The metabolizable energy required to maintain body condition was estimated to be 0·78 and 0·71 MJ/M0·75 for high and low breeding index cows respectively. The metabolizable energy required in excess of maintenance to promote a gain of one unit of body condition was estimated to be 2290 MJ. This is equivalent to 27 MJ energy retained per kg live-weight gain.For lactating and non-lactating cows the differences between genotypes in their utilization of nitrogen were small and inconsistent.



1962 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. D. Greenhalgh ◽  
K. V. Runcie

1. A group of four Ayrshire and four Friesian cows was strip grazed on a cocksfoot-dominant sward while a second, similar group was zero grazed on herbage cut from the same field. The experiment consisted of five 10-day periods, two in the spring and three in the summer.2. The intakes of all cows were calculated from values for faeces output, estimated by using chromic oxide, and for herbage digestibility, estimated from faeces nitrogen. The regressions used for predicting digestibility were determined with the zero-grazed cows, digestibility coefficients being calculated from measured intake and estimated faeces output values.3. Over the whole experiment there was no difference between treatments in milk yield, herbage digestibility or intake. The solids-not-fat content of the milk of strip-grazed cows was significantly higher than for zero-grazed cows.4. In both spring and summer the increasing maturity of the herbage caused declines from one period to the next in herbage digestibility and intake, and there were declines also in milk yield and solids-not-fat content. The declines were greater for the zero-grazed cows, apparently because they, unlike the strip-grazed animals, were unable to select the more digestible and palatable components of mature herbage. The effects of selective grazing on digestibility, however, were evidently small, for the difference in between the treatment groups was never greater than one unit.5. The estimated energy intakes of both treatment groups corresponded quite well with their theoretical requirements of energy for maintenance, milk production and live-weight gain, and there was no evidence of the energy cost of free grazing being appreciably greater than that of zero grazing.



1973 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Gordon ◽  
J. Kormos

SUMMARYAn experiment designed to study the response in milk production to dried grass given as an addition to a basal roughage diet and to assess its value as a replacement for conventional dairy concentrates is described. A randomized block design with 34 lactating cows was used. The cows received supplements of either dried grass (dry-matter digestibility, 70%, 0·28, 0·39, 0·50 or 0·61 kg/kg milk) or a cereal-based dairy concentrate (0·39 kg/kg milk) in addition to silage offered in amounts to meet the maintenance energy requirements. Milk yield, milk energy output, live-weight gain and the fat, solids-not-fat and protein contents of the milk increased with level of addition of dried grass. Interrelationships between the level of feeding of dried grass and milk output and body-weight change are given. The derived relationships between dried grass input and animal output were used to predict the replacement value of dried grass for conventional dairy concentrates. These indicated that dried grass offered at 042 kg/kg milk would produce equivalent milk yield and body-weight changes to concentrate given at 0·39 kg/kg milk. Ration digestibility and nitrogen balance results are also given.



2006 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Aharoni ◽  
A. Brosh ◽  
E. Kafchuk

AbstractThe objectives were to demonstrate the potential of heat production measurements to characterize the gross and net efficiencies of dairy cows under commercial conditions and to compare the efficiencies of purebred Holstein and Montbeliarde × Holstein F1 dairy cows. The heat productions of seven Holstein (H) and seven Montbeliarde × Holstein (MH) cows were measured over two 10-day periods separated by a 75-day interval, during the summer of 2004, in a commercial high-yielding dairy herd in Israel. Energy expenditure was measured by monitoring heart rates and oxygen consumption per heart beat. Milk yield and composition were recorded for these cows and their investment of energy in the milk was calculated from the milk yield and composition. Live weight and body condition score were also recorded in parallel with these measurements. Metabolizable energy (ME) intake was estimated as the sum of heat production, energy in milk and body energy balance. The MH cows were heavier by 90 kg, had higher body condition scores by 0·9 units and secreted proportionately 0·19 and 0·38 less energy in their milk than H cows in the first and second periods, respectively. The gross energy efficiencies, expressed as the percentage of milk production plus body retention in ME intake were 48·3 and 43·4% in the first period and 45·6 and 32·8% in the second period, for H and MH cows, respectively. The milk production of MH cows in this study was lower than the potential of this cross, however, MH cows that expressed this potential would still be expected to require proportionately 0·10 greater intake of ME than H cows, per unit of energy in milk.



2002 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Sutton ◽  
R. H. Phipps ◽  
E. R. Deaville ◽  
A. K. Jones ◽  
D. J. Humphries

AbstractTo measure the effect of stage of maturity of whole-crop (WCW) on its composition, digestibility and feeding value winter wheat was harvested at different maturities in two successive years. In year 1 WCW was harvested at 301(low dry matter (DM)) and 511(high DM) g DM per kg and ensiled and at 584 g DM per kg and treated with 40 kg urea per t DM before being stored (urea-treated WCW). Part of the high DM WCW was treated with an additive containing Lactobacillus buchneri at harvest. In year 2 WCW was harvested at 321 (low DM) and 496 (high DM) g DM per kg and ensiled before both crops were offered to the cows with or without a fibrolytic enzyme sprayed on the forage just before feeding. In both years the WCW was offered ad libitum in a 2: 1 WCW: grass silage DM ratio with 10 kg fresh weight concentrates per day to 40 early-lactation Holstein-Friesian cows in a 13-or 15-week production study with a continuous design and to four fistulated lactating cows in a 4 ✕ 4 Latin-square experiment for measurement of diet digestibility. In both years neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) content decreased and starch content increased with advancing maturity. In the production trials, DM intake increased (P 0·01) with advancing maturity but milk yield was not significantly affected. Milk protein yield was increased by urea-treated WCW. The additives had no effect on food intake or milk production. In year 1, digestibility of all fractions except starch was lower for high DM WCW than low DM WCW but for urea-treated WCW only the digestibility of starch and energy was lower than digestibility of the low DM WCW fractions. The inoculant had no significant effect. In year 2 crop maturity had no significant effect on digestibility but the enzyme reduced the digestibility of neutraland acid-detergent fibre (NDF and ADF, P 0·05). In year 1, each of the forage mixtures was offered to sheep at 12 g DM per kg live weight per day. There were significant treatment effects on the digestibility of DM (P 0·05) and organic matter (OM) (P 0·01) and on DOMD (digestible OM in the DM) (P 0·01) with the highest values being obtained for urea-treated WCW and the lowest for the inoculant-treated high DM WCW. Digestibility coefficients for NDF and ADF were highest for the urea-treated WCW while starch digestibility was essentially complete for all the WCW treatments. The metabolizable energy value (MJ/kg corrected DM) of the WCW decreased with advancing maturity when measured with both the lactating cows (10·4, 9·3 and 9·0) and the sheep (11·4, 10·8 and 10·3) in contrast to the predictions based on the chemical composition (9·6, 10·4 and 12·4). It is concluded that food intake increases with advancing crop maturity but milk production responses are small. Effects on digestibility were inconsistent but the energy value measured in the cows fell with advancing maturity in both years. The increase in crop yield per ha with advancing maturity is likely to be the most important factor influencing the decision to harvest later. The silage additives tested were not beneficial.



1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 ◽  
pp. 32-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. Sutton ◽  
S.B. Cammell ◽  
D.E. Beever ◽  
R.H. Phipps ◽  
D.J. Humphries

Increasing maturity at harvest of maize silage has been shown to affect feed intake and milk production in Holstein-Friesian cows (Phipps et al., 1998). The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether the milk production response was related to improvements in the efficiency of feed energy utilisation.Four multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows (mean live weight 620 kg) fitted with permanent cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were given diets based on maize silage and grass silage (3:1 DM ratio) offered ad libitum plus 8.7 kg DM/day of a concentrate (254 g crude protein (CP)/kg DM) starting 5-10 weeks post-calving. The maize silage was harvested at four different stages of maturity as defined by DM content and ensiled without additives. The grass silage was a first-cut perennial ryegrass (260 g DM/kg, 519 g neutral detergent fibre (NDF)/kg DM, 146 g CP/kg DM).



1978 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Brumby ◽  
J. E. Storry ◽  
J. A. Bines ◽  
Rosemary J. Fulford

SummaryDuring the first 13 weeks of lactation, four groups of seven cows were given hay and a basal concentrate mix containing 0, 1·7, 3·3 or 5·0 kg/day of a protected lipid supplement (320 g long-chain fatty acid/kg D.M.). The proportion of hay to total concentrate was maintained at 25:75 and cows were fed to appetite.The total amount of energy digested corrected for endogenous loss (DEc) was partitioned into crude protein energy (CPEc), fatty-acid energy (FAEc), ‘carbohydrate’ (non-protein non-fatty acid) energy (CEC) and non-fatty-acid energy (NFAEc = CPEc + CEc).Partial efficiency of milk production and live-weight gain was curvilinearly related to FAEc, maximum efficiency occurring at about 30 MJ/day of FAEc.Net energy utilized was significantly related to DE0c for both of the periods considered, Weeks 2–6 and weeks 7–13. In addition, a curvilinear effect of the ratio of fatty acid energy to non-fatty-acid energy was established. At fixed intakes of digestibl energy, net energy utilized was maximal for ratios of FAEc/NFAEc of 0·14 and 0·18 for weeks 2–6 and 7–13 respectively.Milk yield was significantly related to DEc for weeks 1–6 and 7–13; milk energy yield was significantly related to DEc for weeks 7–13. The multiple regression relationships between milk yield or milk energy yield and CPEc, FAEc and CEc gave a negative effect of crude protein, possibly indicating that the proportion of total energy supplied as crude protein (18–26% of DEc) was above the optimum requirement.At fixed intakes of digestible energy, outputs of milk and milk energy were maximal at ratios of FAEc/NFAEc of 0·16 and 0·15 for weeks 1–6 and 7–13 respectively. The inclusion of a curvilinear effect of total energy (DEc2) gave some indication that utilization of energy for milk production for weeks 7–13 diminished at the highest digestible energy intakes whilst energy utilized for live-weight gain increased.



Author(s):  
Ni Nyoman Suryani ◽  
I Wayan Suarna ◽  
Ni Putu Sarini ◽  
I Gede Mahardika

To determine the effect of energy levels on digestible nutrient, milk production and milk quality of 7 months pregnant Bali cattle, was the purpose of this study. The study was conducted in Bali, Province of Indonesia on 12 pregnant breeding phase of pre-calving (2 months before the birth) with the parent body weight 329-340 kg/head. The treatment given is four types of Metabolizable Energy (ME) levels: 2000, 2100, 2200 and 2300/kg respectively as treatment A, B, C, and D. All ration contain 10% of crude protein. Variables measured: energy intake, digestible nutrient, milk yield, and milk quality. This research is a randomized block design. The results showed that increase energy ration until 2300 kcal ME/kg would significantly (P<0.05) increase energy intake and highest at cattle consumed ratio D is 22239.55 kcal/day. However, digestible nutrient was not affected. Milk production increased with increasing energy rations and highest (P<0.05) at cattle received treatment D is 2179.83 ml/day compared to treatment A 936.67 ml/day. Milk fat and milk lactose also highest (P<0.05) in treatment D are 8.56% and 4.76% respectively. Based on these results, it can be concluded that increase energy ration will increase energy intake, milk yield and milk fat and milk lactose of Bali cattle. 



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