Effect of amount consumed and diet composition on the apparent digestibility of feed in cattle and sheep

Abstract

SummaryDigestibility trials were conducted at two stages of lactation with each of 107 Friesian cows using three diets (60:40, 75:25, 90:10 proportions of compound feed to medium quality hay fed long). Each cow received throughout lactation fixed daily allowances of one of these diets at either 2·26 or 2·63 times average maintenance requirements (MM), or was fed ad libitum, average intake equalling 3·07 MM. The digestibilities of the diets were also measured on immature cattle at 0·76 and 1·33 MM and sheep at 0·65 and 1·27 MM.For all classes of stock the digestibility of dry matter increased linearly and that of fibre decreased curvilinearly with increasing proportion of compound in the diet. There was no interaction of effects of diet composition and amount consumed on digestibility of feed. The digestibility of both dietary components declined for the young cattle and sheep with increased intake. The digestibilities for lactating cows were lower than for other stock but did not change with amount consumed or milk yield. Digestibility was slightly higher for first and second calf cows than for adult cows; and was higher for organic matter in mid lactation compared with early lactation for adult cows.These results for dairy cows conflict with the generally accepted interpretation that a linear decline in digestibility occurs from once to five times maintenance intake, embracing all classes of stock.