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Complete diets for dairy cows: comparisons of feeding to appetite with rationing according to milk yield

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. F. D. Greenhalgh  and
G. W. Reid
J. F. D. Greenhalgh
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, AB2 9SB
G. W. Reid
Affiliation:
Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, AB2 9SB
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Summary

Two experiments were made, each with 35 autumn-calving cows fed on complete diets containing 40–70% hay and 60–30% concentrates. In both experiments, cows fed to appetite on a diet containing 11 MJ metabolizable energy/kg D.M. for weeks 7–24 of lactation ate about 20% more than cows rationed according to yield, but produced only about 3% more milk. The cows fed to appetite gained more in live weight, but lost their weight advantage during the subsequent grazing season.

In Expt 1, a further group of cows were fed to appetite on diets progressively reduced in metabolizable energy content from 11·0 to 9·2 MJ/kg. Dry-matter intake decreased by about 1·2 kg/day per 1 MJ reduction in energy content. The lower dry-matter and energy intakes of cows on this treatment did not significantly reduce their milk yield, but their response when turned out to grass suggested under-nutrition in late winter. In Expt 2, increasing the energy content of the diet in early lactation (weeks 7–12) and reducing it thereafter had no significant effect on milk yield.

Within each treatment group there were reasonably close relationships between energy intake and energy requirement. Nevertheless, it seems likely that the efficiency of feed utilization of cows fed on complete diets will be low unless intake is controlled by energy dilution.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , June 1980 , pp. 715 - 726
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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