Pasture allowance and duration: the effect of restriction on dry-matter intake, energy balance and indicators of metabolic health in early lactation dairy cows

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Aisling Claffey ◽  
Luc Delaby ◽  
Eva Lewis ◽  
Tommy M. Boland ◽  
Norann Galvin ◽  
...  

Context Pasture allowance (PA) in early lactation is widely acknowledged to influence animal performance; however, climatic factors can limit grass growth in early spring, resulting in potential feed deficits on farm. Aim The present study determined whether PA restrictions imposed in early lactation impair energy balance and metabolic health of the cow. Methods One hundred and five cows were assigned to one of seven grazing treatments from 14 March to 4 July 2016 (16 weeks). The control-treatment cows were offered a PA to achieve a post-grazing sward height of 3.5 cm. The cows on the remaining treatments were offered a PA representing 60% of that offered to the control cows for a duration of 2 or 6 weeks from 14 March (mid-March; MMx2 and MMx6), 28 March (end-March; EMx2 and EMx6) or 11 April (mid-April; MAx2 and MAx6). Measurements were collected over the final 2-week period of the restriction for each individual restricted treatment and the control treatment. Key results Restricting PA in early lactation (34–88 days in milk) resulted in a mean reduction in dry-matter intake (DMI) of 25%; however, DMI as a proportion of the control treatment declined for EMx6 (75% of control DMI achieved) and MAx6 (65%) compared with the MMx6 (78%), which may be attributable to changes in the sward, as the plant changes from the vegetative to reproductive phase during this period. The reduction in milk production, relative to the control treatment, was similar among all restricted treatments (18%), resulting in a 1.1-kg reduction in milk output per 1-kg reduction in DMI. However, there was no effect of PA restriction or duration on body condition score, energy balance or blood metabolites, suggesting that the animals used in the current study made sufficient physiological adaptions to partition energy for the maintenance of body reserves. Conclusion In conclusion, short-term restrictions of PA up to 25% of DMI, for up to 6 weeks, can be used as a management strategy to cope with feed deficits in early lactation without impairing normal metabolic function of the early lactation dairy cow. Implications The results of the present study identified the ability of the early lactation dairy cow at grass to adapt to short-term deficits in pasture availability, without affecting the metabolic functioning of the animals

animal ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 1805-1813 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kennedy ◽  
J. Curran ◽  
B. Mayes ◽  
M. McEvoy ◽  
J.P. Murphy ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (6Supl2) ◽  
pp. 3157
Author(s):  
Simone Pedro da Silva ◽  
Carina Ubirajara de Faria ◽  
Ana Caroline Rodrigues da Cunha ◽  
Aline Maria Soares Ferreira ◽  
Jean Marcos Castro Paula ◽  
...  

We aimed to evaluate the effects of using a concentrated ration containing industrialised human food on the productive parameters of Nellore heifers in confinement, in addition to comparing the dry matter intake (DMI) observed with that predicted by the nutritional systems BR-Corte and NRC, in order to determine which system makes the most accurate predictions for heifers of the breed Nelore in feedlots. Twenty-four Nelore heifers, with an average age of 24 months and average body weight (BW) of 350 kg, were used over the 70 days of the experiment. They were randomly assigned to two treatments and housed in partially covered stalls equipped with an automatic Growsafe® Systems feeding system. Animals in the control group (CONT) received a concentrated ration containing ground corn, soybean meal, urea, and mineral nucleus. In the residual treatment (RES) group, heifers received concentrated feed containing products from the human diet. The difference between the treatments was the concentrated ration; in the control treatment, the energy source used was maize, whereas in the residue treatment, the energy sources were corn chips, coconut candies, and ground coffee. Corn silage was included as forage for both treatments. The forage:concentrate (F:C) ratio was 84:16. The predicted intake was estimated according to the nutritional systems NRC (2000, 2016) and BR-Corte (VALADARES FILHO et al., 2010, 2016). The average DMI observed of the heifers was 7.46 kg day-1. Heifers fed with human feed residue had a higher dry matter intake (DMI) and higher ether extract intake (EEI) than animals fed with the control feed. In addition, heifers that received human feed products showed a lower average daily weight gain (DWG) of 1.08 kg day-1 than animals fed the control treatment with an average DWG of 1.24 kg day-1. The predicted dry matter intake by NRC 2000 was an overestimate by 9.78 % and by BR-Corte 2010 was an overestimate by 5.5 %. The NRC 2016 and BR-Corte 2016 underestimated the intake of heifers by 18.9 % and 7.1 %, respectively. It was concluded that growing Nelore heifers fed with human feed products, with a F:C ratio of 84:16, present a higher DMI and lower growth performance and feed efficiency than heifers fed the control diet. The DMI predicting models for Nellore heifers proposed by BR-Corte are more adequate than the NRC models.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 47441
Author(s):  
Joao Paulo De Farias Ramos ◽  
Wandrick Hauss de Sousa ◽  
Iara Tamires Rodrigues Cavalcante ◽  
Juliana Silva Oliveira ◽  
Edson Mauro Santos ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of multinutritional blocks (BMs) associated with the concentrate content in the diet of lactating goats and their effects on milk production and economic viability. Eight goats Parda Alpina, multiparas were distributed in two Latin squares (4x4). The experiment consisted of four treatments (0.971, 0.746, 0.521 and 0.296 kg concentrate day-1 per goat) and BMs ad libitum. It was evaluated the consumption, milk monitoring and the system was analyzed economically. If there was a significant effect of the concentrate, the control treatment was compared to the others using the Dunnett test and 5% regression analysis. When the concentrate contents were high in the diets, the total dry matter intake decreased linearly. However, there was an inverse behavior for the consumption of BMs. Milk production (PL kg day-1) was linear and positively related to the increase of concentrate levels in the diets. The PL was lower for the decreasing levels of concentrate when compared to the control diet. The economic parameters indicate that the use of low concentrate levels associated with BMs is the best feeding strategy for lactating goats. The multinutritional blocks can be used to feed lactating goats to partially replace the concentrate.


1974 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. D. Greenhalgh ◽  
G. W. Reid

SUMMARY1. Four groups of eight castrated male lambs, weighing initially about 37 kg, were fed ad libitum for 18 weeks on: C, chopped dried grass throughout; P, pelleted grass throughout; C/P (or P/C), the two forms alternated every 3 weeks; or C + P, both forms on offer.2. Daily dry-matter intake (g/kg W0·75) was 58·2 for treatment C and 814 for treatment P; thus the long-term difference in intake was 40%. However, in the alternated sheep, dry-matter intake was 53·6 g/kg W0·75 for chopped grass and 86·5 g for pelleted; this short-term difference (61%) was significantly greater than the long-term difference. Dry-matter intake for treatment C+P was 84·9 g/kg W0·75; after the first week, chopped grass comprised only 10% of this. Dry-matter digestibility coefficients (%) were: C, 740; P, 61·4 and C+P, 62·0.3. The sheep were killed in week 19 and the dimensions of digestive organs and their contents were adjusted to an animal of 50 kg empty body weight. The weight of the reticulo-rumen was greater for C (1·30 kg) than for P (0·94) or C+ P (1·05), C/P and P/C being inter-mediate (1·15). The water-filled volume of the rumen was proportional to weight, except that C/P (alternated sheep finishing on pelleted grass) had low volumes. Reticulo-rumen fill was greater for C (7·28 kg) than for P (3·97) or C+ P (4·53), P/C (5·90) and C/P (4·34) being intermediate. There were no other significant differences in organs or contents.4. Gains in empty-body weight (g/day) were: C, 112; P, 181; C/P and P/C, 126; C + P, 195.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 130-141
Author(s):  
Mylena Garcia Proto ◽  
◽  
Milena Cristina Bernardo de Barros ◽  
Bruna Stanigher Barbosa ◽  
◽  
...  

With the increased production demand in the dairy industry comes the need to keep animals healthier, thus avoiding large economic losses due to low productivity. During the transition period, dairy cows are susceptible to the onset of infectious diseases and metabolic imbalances due to the big change in their diet, it could be poor in needed nutrients to maintain the animal's body score, with this, the dry matter intake decreases up to 40% while energy expenditure increases due to milk and colostrum production, getting into a negative energy balance state.


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