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The effect of abrupt and frequent changes in forage quality on nitrogen balance in crossbred steers fed napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and barley straw

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

I A Sanda ,
D L Romney ,
J Tanner ,
P Thorne  and
J D Leaver
I A Sanda
Affiliation:
National Agricultural Research Centre, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 30148, Nairobi, Kenya
D L Romney
Affiliation:
International Livestock Research Institute, P.O.Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya Natural Resources Institute, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TB
J Tanner
Affiliation:
International Livestock Research Institute, P.O.Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya
P Thorne
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Institute, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TB
J D Leaver
Affiliation:
Wye College, University of London, Nr Ashford, Kent TN 25 5 AH
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Extract

Sanda et al. (1999) studied the effects on crossbred steer liveweight gain of alternating the same quantities of napier grass and barley straw at five day intervals over a 40 day period. These animals lost significantly more weight (p<0.05) than animals on one and ten day frequencies of alternation and those receiving the same quantities of the two feeds mixed together at each meal. These responses could not be explained by differences in in vivo digestibility or intake. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that there are gradual changes in the rumen environment as animals adapt to the intake of a given forage and that, during this adaptive phase nitrogen is not used efficiently, which could explain the poor performance.

Type
Poster Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2000 , 2000 , pp. 70
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2000

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References

Sanda, I., Romney, D., Tanner, J., Thorne, P. and Leaver, J.D. 1999. Effect of abrupt and frequent changes in forage quality on digestibility and performance of crossbred cattle offered Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and barley straw. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science 1999, p88 CrossRefGoogle Scholar