Development of a model to predict dry matter intake of individual dairy cattle on commercial farms

2000 ◽  
Vol 2000 ◽  
pp. 141-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.C.F. Wicks ◽  
J.D. Leaver

Nutritional research on commercial farms is difficult to carry out due to the problems associated with measuring individual animal dry matter intake (DMI). This research was aimed at developing a satisfactory method of estimating DMI from routine farm records, supplemented by cow body condition score and height at withers of the cow.

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 ◽  
pp. 183-183
Author(s):  
H.C.F. Wicks ◽  
J.D. Leaver

The aim was to estimate the influence of genetic merit (£PIN95) and level of concentrate feeding (Cgrp) on predicted total dry matter intake (tDMI) of individual cows, using records collected from commercial farms. The method described by Wicks & Leaver (2000) was used to estimate individual daily dry matter intakes from seven farms, totalling 4282 monthly records over a two-year period. The method was based on milk production records supplemented by body condition scores and height at withers, which were used to calculated the ME requirements of individual animals. All the records were collected, from autumn and winter (July to March) calving cows during the housed period (August to March).


2008 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 3201-3210 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.K. Toshniwal ◽  
C.D. Dechow ◽  
B.G. Cassell ◽  
J.A.D.R.N. Appuhamy ◽  
G.A. Varga

1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (105) ◽  
pp. 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
KR King ◽  
CR Stockdale ◽  
IF Patterson

The effect of restricting the intake of pasture on the performance of dairy cows was studied in two 28-day phases in the eighth and ninth months of lactation. Intakes ranged from 12.4 to 4.9 kg of dry matter/cow day-1. After the 28-day restriction phases, all cows were grazed ad libitum at pasture. Production of milk, butterfat, protein and solids-not-fat all declined linearly with reduction in intake (0.569, 0.0286, 0.0206 and 0.0525 kg per kg of dry matter intake, respectively). Butterfat concentration increased curvilinearly with reduction in intake, but there was no effect on protein and solids-not-fat concentrations. In addition to the decreased production, there was a decrease in body condition score of 0.160 units for each kg reduction in dry matter intake. During the post-experimental period, with ad libitum grazing, cows that had previously been restricted recovered most of their daily milk yield and some of their body condition. The cows in this experiment required an extra 35 kg of dry matter to produce an extra kg of butterfat, but this efficiency ignores potential extra production in the following lactation from improved body condition.


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