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THE E FFECT O F MIL K FEED ING L EVELS ON GROWT H RATES O F HIGH AND LOW B I FR IES I AN BULL CALVES BEFORE AND A FTER WEAN I NG
A thes is pre s e n ted in partial fulf ilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agr icultural Sc ience at Massey Un ivers it y ,
New Zealand .
WANG , XINJUN
1 984
ABST RA CT
E ight F r ie s ian b ull cal v es f r om h igh bre e d ing inde x pa rents ( HB I , B I of par ents 1 3 4 ) and e ight f rom l ow bre e d ing inde x par ents ( LB I , B I of par ents 1 0 3 ) wer e use d to es t imate the ef f e c ts of m il k intake and BI on cal f gr owth perf orm ance , v o l untar y he rbage int ake , d iges t ion and n itrogen metabol ism.
1 . The cal ve s wer e al l ocat ed to one of two l eve l s of mil k int ake from 3 weeks of age unt il weaning at about 7 . 5 weeks of age . The m il k was f ed twice da il y a t e ither 4 . 5 ( LM ) or 6 . 0 ( HM ) l it r es / cal f/ d .
2 . Da il y inta k es of fr eshl y harvested her bage ( per e nnial r y e
grass and wh it e cl over pas ture ) off e red ad l ib itum thr oughout the pre
weaning per iod and f or a f urther 3 weeks per iod f ol l owing wean ing , wer e meas u re d .
3 . The cal ves were then grazed o n pas tur e together in a mob and the l ivew e ight at 2 1 -2 5 weeks of age was meas ured .
4 . C al f growth rates at var ious s t ages wer e recorde d . The HM cal v es gr ew s ig n if icantly ( p<0 . 05 ) f as t er than LM cal ves ( 0 . 55 v 0 . 44 K g/ d ) in t he pre- wean ing per iod . The ir grow th rat e was sl ower in the
3 weeks f ol l ow ing weaning ( 0 . 2 1 v 0 . 3 1 Kg/ d ) but t he d if f er enc e in t h is per iod was not s ign if icant .
5 . The over all growth rat e f rom 3 t o 21 -25 we eks of age was no t s ign if icantl y d if f er e nt between HM and LM cal v es ( 0 . 5 2 v 0 . 53 Kg/d ) , nor was the cal f LW at 21 -25 wee ks of age ( 1 2 4 v 1 30 Kg f or HM and LM cal ves r es pec t ivel y ) .
6 . LM ca l ves cons umed s ign if icantl y ( p< 0 . 01 ) mor e her bage organic mat t er ( OM ) both bef or e and af t er weaning ( 0 . 1 8 and 0 . 3 3 K g OM/ d pre- wean ing and 1 . 1 3 and 1 . 28 Kg OM/ d post-wean ing f or HM an d L M cal v es r es pe c t ivel y ) . Reduc ing da il y m il k intake by 1 K g incr e as e d da il y her bage O M intake by 0 . 1 1 Kg bef or e wean ing and by 0 . 1 2 K g af ter wean ing . T he d if f er ence in her ba ge intake caused by m il k intak e l evel
pers isted f or two wee ks f oll ow ing wean ing . I t was not s ign if icantl y d if f erent in the th ird wee k aft er wean ing .
1 . I t was demons trat e d that the LW at the comm en cem ent of the e x per iment ( 3 wee ks of age ) was pos it ivel y c orr el at e d with the m e an overal l growth r a t e ( f rom 3 t o 21 -25 weeks ) . LW at 3 weeks o f age was
also posi ti v el y c or r el ate d wi th the vol untar y her bage i ntake i n the third week f ol l owi ng weani ng , and also d i ges tibil i ty of her bage organi c mat t er i n the pos t-weani ng peri od .
8 . By e xt rapol at i ng the l i near r el at i onshi p between ni trogen r et ent i on ( NR) and ni trogen i nt ake ( NI ) per m et abol i c we i ght ( K g 0 • 7 5) ,
the estimat e d ni trogen r e qu i r ement for maintenance ( Nm ) was 0 . 4 1 8 g N / K g o " 7 s/ d .
9 . Ther e wer e no si gnif i cant diff er ences i n growth rat e , her bage vol unt ary i ntake , d i g es ti b il i t y or ni trogen me tabol i sm between t he BI groups , nor any i nt eracti ons between the B I and l evels of mi l k i nt ake .
AC KNO WLE DGEMENTS
The author gr at eful l y thanks D r . G .F.W il son and Dr. I .M . Brookes f or the ir w il l ingness to be h is su per v is ors and the gu idance and encouragement g iven by them f or the proj ect .
A c k nowl edgment is al so made of :
Members of the A n imal Sc ien ce D e partment for the i r int er es t i n the pr oj ect and the ir encouragement and hel p d uring the pr ocess of the wor k .
The staff in A n imal Phys iol ogy U n it and o n N o . 3 Da iry , Massey U n ivers ity , and es pe c ial ly Mr . W . B . Parl ane who made the c al ves ava i
l abl e and the proj ect a much eas ier tas k .
Mmes . J . A . Rumbal and J . P . B r idges f or the ir hel p dur ing the pro c ess of the exper imen t .
The s taff in A n imal - Sc ience D epar tm en t Laboratar y f or t he ir s k il ful wor k on c hem ical anal y s is .
F r iends who have , in one way or another , off er ed the ir he l p.
The pr oj ect was car r ied out under the f i na c ial su pport f r om the gover nment of the Peopl e ' s Re publ ic of C h ina .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABST RA CT
INT RODUCT ION --- --- - - - 1
CHAP TE R REV IEW OF L ITE RAT URE - - - --- - - -- - -- - - --- 3 1 . 1 Anat omi cal an d Phy s i ol ogi ca l D eve l opment --- 3
of the Al i mentary Tract of Young Cal ves
1 . 2 Deve l o pment of S ol id F eed I nt ake --- 8 1 . 3 The D i ges t i on of the Mai n N ut ri ents - - - 27 1 . 4 E ner gy and Prot e i n Requ i rem ents --- - - - 3 7 1 . 5 S ome T y pi cal C al f Re ari ng Sys t em s --- - - - - 4 8 CHA PTE R 2 MATE RI A LS AND METHODS --- --- - - - 5 2
CHAPTE R
CHAPTE R
2 . 1 E x periment Desi gn and Proced u re --- - - - 52 2 . 2 Ex per i men t al F oods - - - --- - - - 5 5 2 . 3 E x periment al A nimal s - - - --- - - - 5 6 2 . 4 Ex per i ment al P rocedu re- - - --- - -- -- - - --- - - 5 7 2 . 5
3 3 . 1 3 . 2 3 . 3 3 . 4 3 . 5 4 4 . 1 4 . 2 4 . 3 4 . 4 4 . 5
S t ati s ti cal Anal ysi s- - - -- - - --- - - - -- 6 1 RESULT S --- --- --- - -- -- - - 6 3 A nimal H e al th --- -- - - --- - - - 63 F eed Qual i ty --- - - - --- - - -- - --- 6 3 Feed I ntak e --- - - ---- --- - - - 6 6 Calf G rowth Perform ance and L W Change --- - - - 7 1 D i ges t i on and N i trogen M etabol i sm - --- -- - - 7 8
DI SCUSSION -- - - --- --- - - - 8 4 C al f Food Consum pti on - - - ---- - --- - - -- ---- - - -- 84 C al f Growth Per f orman ce - - - --- - - - -- - -- 9 1 D i ges tion and N Metabol i sm --- --- - - -- - - -- - - 9 4 Calf H eal th - - - --- - - - ---- --- - - - --- 97 REFE RENCES
Concl usi o n --- - -- - - --- ---- - - - -- -- - - 98
--- 99 AP PEN DI CES --- - - - --- - - - 1 08
LIST OF TABLES
Tabl e Page
1 . 1 Perce nt age of Bov ine S tomach T issue C ont r ibuted - - - -- -- 4
by Each C om partm e nt 1 . 2 The E f fect of Whol e M il k F ee d ing L eve l on S tom ach - - - 4
Devel o pment of C al v es Slaught er e d at 1 2 weeks of A ge 1 . 3 C om par ison of S om e Character is t ics of C oncent rat e , - - - 22
Pas t ur e and Hay 1 . 4 Vol at il e F at ty A c id C once ntrat ions in the Rumen L iquor -- 35
1 . 5 S am e E s t im ates of MEm of C al v es --- - - - - 39
1 . 6 S om e E st imat es of Kg in ? re- ruminants -- - - ---- --- 45
2 . 1 The Ex per imental D es cr ipt io n --- - - ---- - -- - - 52
2 . 2 The L ayout of the D iges t ib il it y T r ial s ------ -- -- - - 59
3 . 1 M il k C om posit io n --- -- - --- --- -- --- - - 64
3 . 2 C om pos it ion of H erbage F ed to Calves --- -- --- - -- - - - 6 4 3 . 3 I n v ivo and in v itro D iges t ib il it y of H erbage OM - - -- - - 65
3 . 4 Cal f M il k C ons um pt ion ------- ----- ------ --- - - -- - - - 6 6 3 . 5 C om parison of H erbage I ntake of HM and L M C al ves - - - 6 7 3 . 6 C om par ison of H er bage O ff ere d and Ref used --- ---- - - 70
3 . 7 C al f LW at D if f erent Stages of the Ex pe r iment - - - 7 1 3 . 8 The G rowth Rat e of HM and LM C al ves --- ---- - -- ---- - 7 3 3 . 9 The G rowth Rat e of HBI and L B I C alves ----- --- ---- - - - 73
3 . 1 0 Regr ess ion E quat io ns Rel a t ing EBWG to HOMI in P er io d I - - 75
3 . 1 1 The Regress ion Equa t ions Rel at ing EB WG to ME I ntake --- 76
3 . 1 2 D iges t ib il it y of OM of the Whol e D iet in P e r io d I - -- -- - - 78
3 . 1 3 ' E st imat e d' DOM of H er bage in Per iod I --- - -- - - 7 9 3 . 1 4 DOM of H erbage in P er io d I I - - - --- --- - ----- - - 80
3 . 1 5 C om par ison of S am e Param e t ers of N itrogen M et abol ism - - - - 82
in P er io d I 3 . 1 6 C om par ison of S am e Param et ers of N itrogen M et abol ism - - - - 8 3 in P er io d I I 4 . 1 C om par ison of S ol id F ood Re pl acement f or M il k ----- - --- 85
TABLE OF F I GU RES F i gure
1 . 1 Probabl e Rel ati onshi p between E n ergy and --- - - - 1 6
Foo d I nt ake C ont roll i ng M echani sms
1 . 2 C om pari son of Two Rel ations hi ps between --- - - -- - - 1 7 Vol unt ary I nt ake and D i ges t i bi l i t y
1 . 3 T h e Rel ati onshi p between H er bage OM di ges t i b i l i ty(%) - - - - 23 and O M I nt ake of Grazi ng C al ves
3 . 1 The V ari ation of in v i tro DOMD an d A s h Co nt ent - - - 65 o f H er bage Use d over the Ex perimental P eriod
3 . 2 The Rel at i ons hi p of C al f H er bage I nt ake and Age - - - 67 3 . 3 T h e Rel a ti onshi p between M i l k and H er ba ge i ntake - - - --- - - 68
i n P er i od I
3 . 4 The Rel ati ons hi p bet ween M il k I ntake i n Per i od I - - - --- 69 and HOMI in P eri od II
3 . 5 The Rel at i ons hi p between HOMI be f or e and af ter W ean i ng -- 1 0 3 . 6 T h e Rel ationshi p between C al f LW and Age --- - - - --- 1 2 3 . 7 C al f ME I ntake and Growth Rat e --- - - - 11 4 . 1 T h e C al f DE I ntake fr om M i l k and H er bage --- - - - 84
i n Per i od I and I I
4 . 2 The C om par i son o f Rel ati ons h i p between Mil k I ntake -- ---- 9 5 an d D i g es t i b i l i t y of the D i et
LIST OF A P P ENDI CES
APPEN DI X O NE ------ ------ - - --------- ----- -- 108 APPENDI X TWO --- ---- - - --- --- --- - - - - --- - - - 111
