NUTRITIONAL STRATEGY

Abstract

The contents of Nutritional Strategy are discussed both on a growth and lactation cycle basis. The importance of allocation of feeds over these cycles based on dynamic considerations of feed and animal are proposed. The concept of within-day strategy is discussed with particular emphasis placed on the importance of ruminal microbial ecology and growth, passage and the effect on digestion. Research to date would support that there can be beneficial effects through increased feeding frequency. Further, the literature suggests that controlling fermentation through sequencing the order of feeding may improve productivity. It is proposed that once our understanding of the dynamics of rumen function and the interaction with the animal are more complete it will be possible to select more intelligently feeds that will more adequately provide maximum performance at a maximum profit. Much research is still needed to improve our understanding of the dynamics of rumen and animal metabolism and to determine the animal and feed measurements needed to predict these dynamics more accurately. Key words: Feeding strategy, feeding frequency, degradability, protein, carbohydrate, ruminant