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Comparative digestibility of low‐quality grass hay by two breeds of cattle differing in mature live weight
Author(s) -
Lourenço A. L.,
DiasdaSilva A.,
Santos A. S.,
Rodrigues M. A. M.,
Cone J. W.,
Ferreira L. M. M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1439-0396
pISSN - 0931-2439
DOI - 10.1111/jpn.12090
Subject(s) - hay , biology , zoology , agronomy , food science
Summary The digestive capacity of the Portuguese native breed of B arrosão cattle and the H olstein– F riesian breed was measured when fed meadow hay (72–74 g CP and 641–671 g NDF /kg dry matter), offered either alone or supplemented with soya bean meal (150 g/kg dry matter), at maintenance level. Four mature cows of each breed were used. Average initial live weight ( LW ) was 457 and 635 kg for the B arrosão and the H olstein–Friesian cows respectively. The organic matter digestibility ( OMD ) of the meadow hay was higher in H olstein– F riesian than in B arrosão cows (p < 0.08) whether supplemented or not. The neutral detergent fibre digestibility of the hay was also higher in H olstein– F risian when the hay was fed alone (p < 0.08). The soya bean meal supplementation increased the OMD and the NDFD digestibility of the total diet (p < 0.05), but not the OMD digestibility of the hay (p > 0.05). The results obtained in this study suggest a higher ability to digest fibre in the large dairy breed than in the small native breed. This suggestion is also supported by previous findings with sheep breeds largely differing in mature live weight.