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Intake and live-weight gain by British Friesian calves offered different ratios of dried grass and concentrates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

R. Marsh
R. Marsh
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down
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Summary

Four experiments were carried out with calves offered pellets containing different ratios of cereal/protein concentrate and dried grass together with 10% chopped hay. Organic matter digestibility of total ration declined by 5·2 percentage units for each 25% increment of dried grass.

Dry matter (DM) intake of the total ration increased as dried grass content increased from 0 to 50% which led to similar intakes of digestible organic matter (DOM) and daily gain. When pellets contained 75% dried grass, total DM intakes were reduced in two experiments, leading to DOM intakes and daily gains similar to that of calves offered pellets of dried grass only. In the third experiment, DM intake of pellets containing 75 % dried grass was greater than the intake of pellets containing 50 to 100 % dried grass. When equal quantities of DM were offered, DOM intakes and daily gains tended to decline linearly as dried grass content in the pellet increased. The replacement value of the dried grass for concentrate at equal levels of live-weight gain was 1·36: 1.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , June 1975 , pp. 345 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1975

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References

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