Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-xh428 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-19T01:52:55.965Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Depression of dry-matter and water intake in Boran cattle owing to physiological, volumetric and temporal limitations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

M. J. Nicholson
M. J. Nicholson
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Get access

Abstract

Dry-matter (DM) intake and water consumption were recorded in Borana cattle (Bos indicus) which were subjected to infrequent watering regimes, prolonged walking and night-enclosure. DM intake and water intake were depressed in cows watered every 2nd day (0·04 and 0·16 respectively) and in cows watered every 3rd day (0·1 and 0·3 respectively) as proportions of the food and water intake of daily watered cows. DM intake was further reduced by proportionately 0·05 as a result of a 40-km walk every 3rd day throughout the dry season and by 0·05 as a result of night-enclosure. Digestibility of food was unaffected by treatments. Water intake increased in some months as a result of walking but not as a result of night-enclosure. It is thought that DM intake was depressed with decreasing frequency of watering owing to the physiological effects of dehydration resulting in inappetence. Water consumption fell owing to the constraint imposed by rumen volume at drinking. Walking and night-enclosure independently reduced DM intake as a result of the greatly decreased time available for grazing.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , August 1989 , pp. 29 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Balch, C. C., Balch, D. A., Johnson, V. W. and Turner, J. 1953. Factors affecting the utilization of food by dairy cows. 7. The effect of limited water intake on the digestibility and rate of passage of hay. British Journal of Nutrition 7: 212–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, W. J., Brown, M. D., Enoelman, L., Frand, J., Hill, M., Jennrick, R. and Toporek, J. 1983. BMDP Statistical Software. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
French, M. H. 1956. The effect of infrequent water intake on the consumption and digestibility of hay by zebu cattle. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture 24: 128–136.Google Scholar
Goering, H. K. and Van soest, P. J. 1970. Forage fibre analyses. Agricultural Handbook U.S. Department of Agriculture, No. 379, pp. 8–15.Google Scholar
Harvey, W. R. 1979. Least-Squares Analysis of Data with Unequal Subclass Numbers. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Nicholson, M. J. 1985. The water requirements of livestock in Africa. Outlook on Agriculture 14: 156–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholson, M. J. 1987a. The effect of drinking frequency on some aspects of the productivity of zebu cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 108: 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholson, M. J. 1987b. Effects of night enclosure and extensive walking on the productivity of zebu cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 109: 445–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, W. J. A. 1965. Specific problems of semi-arid environments. Qualitas Plantarum et Materiae Vegetabiles 12: 269–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar