The development of solid food intake in calves 5. The relationship between liquid and solid food intake

1971 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Dry Matter Concentration ◽  
Milk Substitute ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Reconstituted Milk ◽  
The Relationship

SUMMARYReconstituted milk substitute was given at two concentrations of powder (10% and 20%), each at four levels (10% powder—8, 12, 16 and 20% of live weight (LW); 20% powder—6, 8, 10 and 12% of LW) to 3 British Friesian male calves per treatment from 2 to 4 weeks after arrival, and the calves were weaned over the next 7 days. Chopped dried grass was offered to appetite before and for 3 weeks after weaning. The amount of solid food eaten was not affected by the dry-matter concentration of the milk substitute, but was significantly depressed as the amount of milk consumed increased. Between-treatment differences in solid food intake established at weaning persisted until the end of the experiment. There was a dose, positive relationship between milk intake and live-weight gain (LWG) before weaning, but weight gain after weaning was not significantly affected by the level of milk intake before weaning.

Milk-fed calves: 1. The effect of milk intake upon the herbage intake and performance of grazing calves

1976 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Baker ◽  
Y. L. P. Le Du ◽  
J. M. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
Milk Consumption ◽  
Grazing Season ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Milk Substitute ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Reconstituted Milk

SUMMARYTwo trials were conducted, using 18 and 30 castrated male calves respectively, to investigate the importance of milk in the diet of calves during the first 8 months of life and its effect on herbage intake and live-weight change. Reconstituted milk substitute was fed in a manner that simulated the supply of milk for lactation, yields of 2101, 1635 and 1165 kg (Expt 1) and 1906, 1609, 1304, 1005 and 701 kg (Expt 2) over a 240-day period. Calves were purchased in mid-February, when approximately 1 week old, and housed individually until turned out to graze at 10 weeks of age. At pasture, the calves were strip grazed on swards of Lolium perenne cv. S. 23 or S. 24 and given a daily herbage allowance of 60 g D.m./kg live weight.The live-weight gain response to milk consumption was 81 g/kg milk fed during the housed period and 50 g during the grazing season. Herbage and milk intake per unit live weight were inversely related but because the grazing season responses were confounded with the treatments during the housed periods, it was not possible to determine true replacement rates. Herbage intake per head increased with time but there was no general trend when intake was expressed per unit live weight.

Milk-fed calves:4. The effect of herbage allowance and milk intake upon herbage intake and performance of grazing calves

1978 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Baker ◽  
J. M. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
Milk Consumption ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Milk Substitute ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Reconstituted Milk ◽  
Milk Treatment

SUMMARYThe effect of herbage allowance and milk intake upon herbage intake and performance was investigated using 48 Hereford × Friesian calves purchased at 10–12 days of age and reared on reconstituted milk substitute. Groups of 24 calves were fed low (L) or high (H) daily quantities of milk normally associated with 240-day lactation yields of 1000 or 2000 kg. Six calves on each milk treatment were allocated to four daily herbage allowances during the grazing season. These were 20, 40, 60 or 80 g/kg herbage dry matter/kg live weight.There was no effect of herbage allowance before day 95; thereafter both herbage intake and live-weight gain of the L20 and H20 groups were depressed. The effect was greatest for the L calves. Additional milk consumption reduced herbage intake at all herbage allowances. Milk intake influenced the extent to which calves were buffered from the effects of a low herbage allowance.

Milk-fed calves: 2. The effect of length of milk feeding period and milk intake upon herbage intake and performance of grazing calves

1976 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. L. P. Le Du ◽  
R. D. Baker ◽  
J. M. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Feeding Period ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Milk Substitute ◽  
Weaning Age ◽  
Behavioural Factors ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Reconstituted Milk

SUMMARYForty-eight Hereford × Friesian steer calves purchased at 7–10 days of age were reared on reconstituted milk substitute and groups of 12 were weaned at 86, 128, 170 or 212 days. Six calves at each weaning age were fed high (H) and low (L) quantities of milk normally associated with 240-day lactation yields of 2000 or 1000 kg. Calves were housed until day 63 of the experiment and then strip-grazed on swards of Loliun perenne with a daily allocation of herbage dry matter equivalent to 60 g/kg LW.Herbage intake per unit live weight prior to weaning was consistently greater for the calves receiving low quantities of milk. Following weaning there was a rapid rise in herbage intake towards a maximum of 30 g OM/kg LW when sward conditions were non-limiting. The amount of milk fed prior to weaning affected herbage intake after weaning, and H groups did not achieve similar intakes to their L contemporaries until some weeks after weaning. The H groups grew faster from birth to weaning than the L groups but they experienced a more severe check in live-weight gain after weaning which nullified the advantage of better weight gains between the start of the grazing period and weaning. In consequence, there was no significant effect of the quantity of milk consumed prior to weaning upon live-weight gain during the grazing season. The results indicate a marked benefit from distributing a given quantity of milk over a longer feeding period as similar growth rates occurred for the H86 v. L128, H128 v. L170 and H170 v. L212 groups. Calves receiving milk consumed less herbage and spent a smaller proportion of the day grazing than weaned contemporaries, which suggests that metabolic rather than physical or behavioural factors are likely to limit their intake.

Can information about solid food be transmitted from one piglet to another?

2001 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A. Morgan ◽  
A.B. Lawrence ◽  
J. Chirnside ◽  
L.A. Deans
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Wire Mesh ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Experienced Observer ◽  
Time Spent Feeding

AbstractWhen weaned early, piglets commonly take some time to accept solid food, resulting in a growth check and reduced welfare. The transmission of information about food between animals has been demonstrated in other species and it would be advantageous if this occurred in piglets. This experiment investigated the effects of pairing piglets that were consuming solid food with newly weaned piglets. Six litters of piglets did not receive solid food until weaning. In each litter four piglets (3 plus 1 spare) were weaned at 21 days of age and housed together for 7 days and offered one of two foods (3 litters per food). At 28 days of age the remaining piglets were weaned and four pairs of piglets were formed, such that there were three experienced animals paired with three inexperienced observers, each pair having visual contact and varying degrees of physical contact (1: none, 2: through wire mesh, 3: housed together), and a pair of inexperienced piglets (4: housed together) to act as controls. Food intake and weight gain were recorded over a period of 7 days. There was no effect of food type on food intake or live-weight gain of the pairs but the inexperienced pigs had higher gains on food 1 than food 2. The inexperienced pairs ate less food than the other pairs and the experienced/observer pairs that were housed together had the greatest weight gain. The level of variation between piglets was such that there were no significant effects of pairing treatment on the weight gain of the inexperienced animals. Total time spent feeding increased with time from pair formation. The number of simultaneous feeding events was higher for the experienced/observer pairs housed together than for the inexperienced pairs. This experiment has indicated that food intake is stimulated when an inexperienced piglet is housed with an experienced piglet and, with further work, this could be exploited to alleviate the weaning check.

The intensive rearing of lambs 1. Some factors affecting performance in the liquid feeding period

1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. R. Davies ◽  
J. B. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Liquid Feeding ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Factors Affecting Performance ◽  
Milk Feeding

1. Investigations into possible ways of rearing artificially the lambs surplus to the ewe's capacity are described and the results discussed.2. A ewe-milk replacer with a high fat content was used from 2 days of age until weaning at 11.4 kg live weight. Two levels of milk feeding, restricted and ad libitum, were given in the second year. Significant differences were observed in live weight gain per day, milk consumption per kg live weight gain and solid food intake prior to weaning. Live weight gain and solid food intake in the period immediately after weaning also differed markedly. Sex and birth weight had little effect on performance.3. Food costs were lower on the restricted level of milk feeding than on the ad libitum level.

The development of solid food intake in calves 3. The relation between solid food intake and the development of the alimentary tract

1971 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Alimentary Tract ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Total Solid ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Mean Retention Time ◽  
Unit Increase ◽  
Milk Substitute

SUMMARY1. Jersey calves were fed on milk substitute at the rate of 10% of live weight per day for 5 weeks and were offered either chopped dried grass or ground, pelleted dried grass to appetite. Calves were slaughtered at birth and after 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12 weeks on experiment, and the weights of the component parts of the alimentary tract and their contents were measured.2. There were close correlations between the weights of the sections of the alimentary tract or their contents and the solid food intake at slaughter, total solid food intake, or empty body weight of the calves. There were no consistent changes with age in the DM concentration or the density of the digesta in any section of the alimentary tract except the abomasum, or in the digestibility or mean retention time of the diets.3. Grinding and pelleting the diet increased the DM concentration but did not affect the density of the digesta. The increase in the weight of rumen contents per unit increase in dry-matter intake was much greater for chopped than for pelleted diets. The reverse was true for the contents of the abomasum and small intestine. There were relatively small variations between diets in the predicted weight of rumen contents, total digesta, or the volume of organs in the abdomen, at the within-diet mean levels of dry-matter intake.

The effect of a methane-suppressing compound, trichloroethyl adipate, on rumen fermentation and the growth of sheep

1977 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Clapperton
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Rumen Fermentation ◽  
Total Food Intake ◽  
Total Food ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Lamb Growth

SUMMARY1. Three experiments have been carried out to study the effect of adding trichloroethyl adipate, a compound known to prevent the production of methane bothin vitroandin vivo, to the diet of sheep on fermentation in the rumen and on the growth of lambs. In Experiment 1 the additive was incorporated at various levels for 6 weeks, in Experiment 2 it was given at one of four levels for 12 weeks and in Experiment 3 it was included in the food of growing lambs for 15 weeks.2. Initially, in Experiments 1 and 2, the additive caused a large reduction in methane production and in the molar proportion of acetic acid in the rumen liquor with a corresponding increase in propionic acid. These effects were much reduced after the first 2 to 3 weeks of administration.3. The total food intake of the animals receiving the additive in Experiment 3 was 4% less than that of the control animals. This difference was negligible at the start of the experiment but increased throughout the feeding period.4. On average, the relative live-weight gain and the changes in the weights of carcass, viscera and empty body weight of the animals receiving the additive were also 4% less than those of the control animals.5. The observed differences in weight gain resulted from the differences in food intake and the additive had no beneficial effect upon lamb growth. This lack of effect on growth was due to rapid adaptation by the rumen fermentation to the presence of the additive.

scholarly journals The influence of perinatal undernutrition of twin-bearing ewes on milk yields and lamb performance and the effects of postnatal nutrition on live weight gain and carcass composition

1981 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Lawlor ◽  
S. P. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Average Daily Gain ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Carcass Composition ◽  
Milk Substitute ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Daily Gain

1. Studies were conducted to measure the influence of perinatal undernutrition of twin-bearing ewes on ewe milk yields and lamb performance in early lactation. Comparative studies were conducted with lambs to measure the effects of postnatal nutrition on lamb performance and carcass composition. The major objective of this work was to determine the extent of the influence of postnatal nutritional deprivation of lambs.2. From 8 weeks prepartum to 4 weeks postpartum each of forty twin-bearing ewes was given daily 0.30 MJ of ME/kg body-weight (W)0.75. Measurements were made of ewe body-weight changes, milk yields during the first 4 weeks of lactation, and of lamb performance.3. There were three postnatal experiments with lambs of ‘light’ and ‘normal’ birth weights, wcaned from the ewes at 72 h. One hundred and four lambs were used and they were individually reared on separate allowances of lamb milk-substitute for 8 weeks. They were subsequently given a lamb concentrate ration. In Expts 1 and 2 the lamb concentrate was fed ad lib. to ‘slaughter’ live weight. In Expt 3 the concentrate was restricted for 8 weeks post weaning and then fed ad lib. A carcass analysis (bone, muscle, fat content) was conducted on all lambs after slaughter. In the first experiment, half the lambs were slaughtered at 8 weeks of age on being weaned off the milk substitute, and a carcass analysis was carried out.4. The mean net body-weight loss per ewe from commencement of late pregnancy to 28 d post partum was 23.8 kg. The over-all mean daily milk yield was 843 g/d. The mean growth rate of the lambs was 97 g/d during the 4-week measurement of ewe milk yields.5. Live weight gain of lambs subjected to restricted milk-substitute allowance (125 g/dry matter (DM) per d) was low, irrespective of lamb birth weight. The average daily gain over the 8-week postnatal period was 86.5 g/d on restricted milk allowance compared with 244 g/d for those fed ad lib. Conversely, the food intake and growth rate of these lambs were almost identical during feeding on ad lib. concentrates. This clearly reflected a response to compensatory food intake which was independent of either birth weight or postnatal milk allowance. The average daily gain of lambs, before weaning, on the restricted milk allowance was very similar to that of the lambs being suckled by ewes subjected to perinatal undernutrition. The effects of postnatal undernutrition of lambs was particularly reflected in the time required to reach ‘slaughter’ live weight. The period of time varied from 117 d for those on ad lib. food intake to 169 d for lambs on restricted food intake.6. The major effect of postnatal undernutrition on carcass composition was evident in the lambs slaughtered at 8 weeks in Expt 1. The percentage carcass fat was 4.7 for those on the low milk allowance. The carcass composition of all lambs at ‘slaughter’ live weight was similar. It would appear that lambs on a restricted milk intake before weaning deposited more fat during the subsequent period of compensatory food intake.7. It is evident from the present results that postnatal growth retardation in lambs reflects either perinatal undernutrition of twin-bearing ewes, or postnatal undernutrition of the lambs due to inadequate milk availability from the dam.

Milk and herbage intake of suckled and artificially reared lambs at pasture as influenced by lactation pattern

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Doney ◽  
A. D. M. Smith ◽  
D. A. Sim ◽  
D. Zygoyannis
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Total Intake ◽  
Herbage Intake ◽  
Metabolizable Energy Intake ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTEast Friesland × Blackface (EFX) ewes with sustained lactation (S) and pure Scottish Blackface (BF) ewes with normal lactation (N) were mated to Suffolk rams. Twenty pairs of twin lambs born to the EFX ewes were used in the experiment. One lamb of each pair was re-allocated as a single lamb to either an EFX or a BF ewe (ER) and the second lamb was artificially reared (AR). At pasture the AR lambs were fed four times daily at levels corresponding to the milk intake of the ER lambs, which was measured weekly. Herbage intake was measured only in wether lambs.The intake of milk and herbage between weeks 3 and 12 was lower in the AR groups than in the corresponding ER groups but the differences were not significant.Total metabolizable energy intake as milk in the ER-S group from weeks 3 to 12 was significantly higher than that in the ER-N group (668 v. 450 MJ). Corresponding intakes in the AR-S and AR-N groups were 613 and 416 MJ. Herbage intake over the same period was 187 and 238 MJ for ER-S and ER-N, and 137 and 219 MJ for AR-S and AR-N. Total intake from milk plus herbage was significantly higher in the S group (855 and 750 MJ, respectively, for ER and AR lambs) than in the N group (688 and 634 MJ).There were negative correlations of herbage intake with milk intake (–0·533) and with live-weight gain (–0·094), and positive relationships between live-weight gain and milk intake (r = +0·832), and between live-weight gain and total intake (r = +0·900). Differences in milk intake resulted in significant differences in live weight at 12 weeks (respectively, 34·6 and 29·7 kg for ER-S and ER-N; 32·3 and 29·1 kg for AR-S and AR-N).It is concluded that lambs reared artificially at pasture may be used to investigate the relationship between milk and herbage intake. It was suggested that if milk does not meet the requirements of voluntary intake or growth potential, herbage intake may be increased to fill the deficit but this does not compensate fully for a lower milk supply.

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