the permission of the Author.
EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTARY HAY FED TO NON-LACTATING COVS OFFERED TVO ALLOVANCES OF PASTURE
A thes i s presen t ed in par t ial fulfi lmen t of the requi remen t s for the degree of
Mas ter of Agr i cu l tural Science in Animal Sci ence a t Massey Univers i ty
Palmers t on Nor t h , New Zealand .
GUSTAVO ALVARO WILLS FRANCO 1988
ABSTRACT
In New Zealand , t he sys t em of produc t i on of the seasonal s upply farms i s based on grazed pas ture and small quan t i t i es o f conserved herbage throughou t the year . The e f f i ci ency wi t h whi ch that conserved pas ture i s u t i l i zed by t h e animal and i t s e f fe c t on
sys tem . e f f e c t
t h e sward will affect the pro f i tabi l i ty of t he The obj ec t ive o f the present s tudy was t o assess t he of hay supplemen t a t ion at two d i ffe ren t herbage allowances during the winter . Pregnan t , non-lac t a t i ng Fries i an cows were randomly alloca t ed to four t reatmen t s in a 2x2 fac t o r i al des ign . The four t rea tmen t s were : Low herbage allowance wi th hay ( LA+ ) or wi thou t hay ( LA) , and high herbage allowance wi th hay ( HA+ ) or wi thou t hay ( HA) . Hay was fed at 5 kgDM/ cow/dai ly , and the two pas ture herbage allowances were 9 . 1 and 1 3 . 4 kgDM / cow/da i ly .
Higher herbage al lowance increased the herbage dry mat t er ( DM ) i n take , to tal DM i n t ake , to tal me tabo l i zable energy ( ME) i n t ake and res idual herbage mass .
Supplemen t ing wi th hay resu l t ed in increases in to tal DM i n t ake and ME intake , despi t e the low concen trat ion of the hay compared wi t h the herbage , and decreases in herbage DM i n t ake a t bo th herbage allowances . The decreases in herbage i n t ake were 0 . 28 and 0 . 40 kg herbage OM eaten per kg hay DM eaten , a t t h e lower and higher herbage allowances res pec t ively . The correspondi ng values , expressed as MJME , were decreases of 0 . 44 and 0 . 65 MJME from herbage per MJME eaten as hay . The decreases in herbage i n t ake resul ted in inc reases in res idual herbage mass a t bo th allowances .
The f i nal livewe igh t and body cond i t ion were increased by the higher herbage allowance and by Hay supplemen t a t i on . However , mat ernal l i vewei gh t gain was higher for HA than for HA+ cows .
i i i
There were large increases in wat er drunk ( by 2 . 1 and 1 . 5 fold ) by the supplemen ted cows . However , supplemen t a t ion d i d no t i ncrease t he to tal water consumed . The ' ex t ra ' water drunk per kg hay OM eaten was higher at the low than a t the h igh allowance .
Hay supplemen t a t i on reduced the t ime the cows s pen t graz i ng and increased the ruminat ing t ime during the day t ime .
The results o f the present s tudy emphas ize t he impo r t ance of hay as a supplemen t during the winter . I t is impor t ant t o consider t h e reported e f fec t s when planning the u s e o f hay a s a supplement for non-lac tat ing cows .
ACKNOVLEDGEHENTS
The au thor wishes t o t hank the following people :
To my superv i sor : Dr . C . � . Holmes for invaluable guidance , ass i s tance , advi ce and encouragemen t throughou t h i s s tud i es .
Many pos t -graduate s tuden t s and s taff members of the Animal Science Depar t men t , for the i r personal and profess i onal i n t eres t in this s tudy .
Pro f . J . Hodgson , Dr . A . C . P . Chu , Dr . C . Hoogendoorn for helpful d i s cussion wi t h var ious aspects of the s tudy .
R . A . McClenaghan and A . O r t ega for the i r t echn ical ass i s t ance whi le carrying ou t the experimen t .
J . M . Rendel for hel p ful sugges t i ons and guidance wi th s ta t is t i cal procedures .
C . A . But t s and R . A . �at s on for the i r help wi th chemi cal analyses .
The personnel of the Dai ry Research Uni t and the Animal Physiology Uni t for t he i r asss i s tance dur ing the experimen t .
Mr . R . Rangel and Mrs . D . Beat son for the i r sugge s t ions and reading of the manuscri p t .
The New Zealand Government for the scholarship that allowed t he au t hor t o carry out h i s s t udies and The Uni vers i dad Nacional de Colombi a for allowing him to s tudy in New Zealand .
Las t ly , but the mos t impor tan t to Mar ia Jos e , for her pat ience , comprehen s i on , suppor t and encouragemen t throughout all the t i me of his pos t -gradua t e s tudi es .
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE . . . i
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . i i ACKNOVLEDGEMENTS . . . i V LI ST OF TABLES . . . i x LI ST O F FIGURES . . . x i i LI ST O F APPENDICES . . . x i i i 1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . .. . . 3
2 . 1 MANAGEMENT OF FEEDS AND FEEDING DURING THE WINTER . . . . . . 3
2 . 1 . 1 Level of Feed i ng i n Early Lac tat ion . . . .. . . . 4
2 . 1 . 2 Liveweigh t , Body Cond i t ion a t Calving and i t s Effec t on M i lk Produc t i on . . . . . . . 5
2 . 1 . 3 Win t er Managemen t . . . . . . . . 7
2 . 1 . 3 . 1 Winter ro t a t i on . . . 7
2 . 1 . 3 . 2 Herbage allowance . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 . 1 . 3 . 3 Drying off date . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. 10
2 . 1 . 3 . 4 Calving date and pat tern . . . 1 1 2 . 1 . 3 . 5 Supplementary feed ing during t h e winter . . . . . .. 1 1 2 . 2 SUPPLEMENTATION . . . . • . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . .. 13
2 . 2 . 1 Level o f Feedi ng . • • . . . • • . • . . . • . . . • . • • . . 1 4 2 . 2 . 2 Type o f Supplemen t . . • . . • . . . • . . . • • • • . . . • . • . . . • • • . 1 5 2 . 2 . 3 Qual i ty and Quan t i ty o f the Supplemen t . . . • . . . • . . 1 7 2 . 2 . 4 Phys iologi cal S ta t e • • . . . • • . . . • . • • • . . . . • • . . . • • . . 1 8 2 . 2 . 5 O ther Fac tors • • • . • . . • . . . • . . . • . . . • . • . 1 9 2 . 3 VOLUNTARY FEED INTAKE . . • . . . • . . . • . . . • . . • . . • . • . • . 1 9 2 . 3 . 1 Regulat i on o f Food Intake . . . • . . . . . . • . . . • • . . 2 0 2 . 3 . 2 Phys i cal Fac tors • • . . . . . • . . . • . . . • . . . 2 2 2 . 3 . 3 Behavi oural Fac tors • . . . . • . . . • . . • • . • . • . . . • . • • • • • . . 2 5 2 . 4 FACTORS AFFECTING FOOD INTAKE B Y GRAZING ANIMALS . . . • • . • . . • . . • . 2 7 2 . 4 . 1 Animal Charac t e r i s t i cs and Envi ronmen t al Fac tors . . . 2 7 2 . 4 . 2 Animal S i ze , Liveweight , Body Cond i t i on , Age and
Geno type . • • . • • • . . • • . • . . . • . . . • . . • . • • . • 2 7 2 . 4 . 3 Effect of Lac t a t ion • . • . . . • • . . . 2 8
2 . 4 . 4 E f f e c t of Pregnancy . . . • . • . • . . • . . • . . . • . . . • • . . . • . 29
2 . 5 S'WARD CHARACTERISTICS . . . . • . . . • . . . • . . • . • 30
2 . 5 . 1 D i e t Selec t ion • . • . . • • . . . . . . . • • . . . 30
2 . 5 . 2 Nu t r i t ive Value . . . • . . . • • • . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . • . 3 1 2 . 5 . 3 Sward Dens i ty and Herbage Height . . . . . . . . 3 2 2 . 5 . 4 Herbage Mass • • • . . . . • . . . • • . . . . • . . • . • . . . • . . . . • • . . . . 32
2 . 5. 5 Herbage Allowance . . • . . . • . . . • • • . . 33
2 . 6 VATER CONSUMPTION . . . . . . • . • . • • . . . • . . . • . . . • • • . . 34
2 . 7 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY . . . • . . • . . . • . . . • . . . • . . . . 3 9 3 MATERIALS AN D METHODS • • • . . • . • . . . . • • . • . . . • • . . . • . • . . 4 0 3 . 1 GENERAL PRE-EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS • . • • • . • . . . • . . • . . . . • 4 2 3 . 1 . 1 Pas tures and Hay • . • • . . . • . • . . . • . • • • . • . . . • . . . . • • • • • . • • • 42
3 . 1 . 2 Ani mals and Treatmen ts • . . . • . . . • • . • • • . . • . • . . . • . . . . • . • . . 42
3 . 2 MEASUREMENTS • • • • • • • • • . • . • . . • . • . • • . . . . • . . . • • . . . • . . . 45
3 . 2 . 1 Pas ture • • • • • • • • • • . • . • • . • . • • . . . • • • • . • . . . • . . • . . . . • . . • . • 45
3 . 2 . 2 Hay . • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • . . • . . . . • • . . • • . • • • . . . . • • . . • . . • . • . • • . 46
3 . 2 . 3 Sward Measuremen t s • • . . • • . . • • • • . . . • . • • • • • . . • . . . • . • • . • • • • • 48
vi i
3 . 2 . 4 Ani mal Measuremen ts . . . . • . . 49
3 . 2 . 5 Wa ter Measuremen t s . . . SO 3 . 2 . 6 Ani mal Behavi our • • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . SO 3 . 3 STATI STICAL ANALYSI S . . . 5 1 4 RESULTS . . . 5 4 4 . 1 SWARD CHARACTER! STICS . . . 54
4 . 1 . 1 Pregrazing Cond i t ions . . . • . . . 54
4 . 1 . 2 Herbage In take . . . 58
4 . 1 . 3 Effect of Supplemen t on In t ake of Pas ture . . . 62
4 . 1 . 4 Res i dual Herbage Mass . . . 63
4 . 2 ANIMAL CHARACTERISTICS . . . 65
4 . 2 . 1 General . . . 65
4 . 2 . 2 Liveweigh t Gain . . . 65
4 . 2 . 3 Body Cond i t i on . . . 6 7 4 . 2 . 4 Water In take . . . 7 2 4 . 2 . 5 Ani mal Behavi our . . . 7 8 5 DISCUSSION . . . • • • . . . • . . . 8 3 5 . 1 THE FEEDS AND FEEDING LEVELS . . . 8 3 5 . 1 . 1 Pregraz ing Herbage Mass . . . 8 3 5 . 1 . 2 Herbage and T o t a l D M Allowance . . . 84
5 . 1 . 3 Diges t i b i l i t ies of Feeds . . . 84
5 . 1 . 4 Herbage and To t a l ME Allowance . . . 85
5 . 2 EFFECT OF HERBAGE ALLOWANCE . . . 86
5 . 2 . 1 Res i dual Herbage Mass . . . 86
5 . 2 . 2 Herbage Intake . . . 88
5 . 2 . 3 To t al DM In t ake . . . 91
5 . 2 . 4 To t al ME In t ake . . . 91
5 . 3 EFFECTS OF HAY SUPPLEMENTATION . . . 93
5 . 3 . 1 Res idual Herbage Mass . • . . . • • . . . 9 3 5 . 3 . 2 Herbage Intake . . . . • . . . 96
5 . 3 . 3 To t al DM Intake . . . 99
5 . 3 . 4 ME Intake . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5 . 4 SUBSTITUTION BETWEEN FEEDS . . . . . . . 100
5 . 5 PREDICTION OF DM INTAKE . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . 106
5 . 6 CHANGES IN LIVEWEIGHT AND CONDITION SCORE . . . . . . . . . . 108
5 . 6 . 1 E f fe c t of Herbage Allowance . . . . . . . 108
5 . 6 . 2 E f fe c t of Hay Supplemen t a t i on . . . 1 10 5 . 6 . 3 In terac t i on between Herbage Allowance and Hay Supplemen t a t i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1 5 . 6 . 4 Rela t ionshi p be tween Livewe igh t gain and Cond i t ion Score . . . .. . . . . . . . . 1 1 3 5 . 6 . 5 Es t i ma t es o f Maintenance Requ i remen t s . . . 1 1 3 5 . 7 WATER INTAKE . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . 1 1 6 5 . 7 . 1 Wa ter Drunk . . . . . . . . 1 1 6 5 . 7 . 2 Wa ter Inges t ed wi th Pas ture . . . .. . . . . . . . . 1 1 7 5 . 7 . 3 To tal Apparen t Wa t er Consumed . . . . . . . 1 18 5 . 7 . 4 Relat i onshi p between Water and DM Intake . . . . . . . . 1 1 9 5 . 7 . 5 Envi ronmen tal Cond i t ions . . . 1 2 1 5 . 8 ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR .. . . . 1 2 3 5 . 8 . 1 Ra te of B i t i n g . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 5 . 8 . 2 Herbage Intake per Bi te and Total Herbage Intake during the F i rs t Hour . . . 125
5 . 8 . 3 Graz i ng Behavi our during Day t ime . . . . . . 126
5 . 9 CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 130
APPENDICES . . . 1 3 2 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . .. .. . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 134
LIST OF TABLES
3 . 1 Common Abbrevia t i ons . . . 4 1 3 . 1 . 1 . Pre-experimen tal age , days o f ges tat ion , fas ted
l i vewe igh t and body cona i t i on score of the
animals allocated t o the di fferen t t reatmen t s . . . 43 3 . 1 . 2 . De ta i ls of the pas ture DM and hay planned to
o ffered t o the d i f fe ren t t rea tmen ts . . . 44 4 . 1 . 1 . Mean values and resul ts of ANOVA for the quan t i t i es
of Pregraz ing Herbage Mas s ( KgDM/ha) and Concentrat ion o f t he Dry Ma t te r ( % ) for the four t reatmen t s . . . 55 4 . 1 . 2 . Mean values and resul ts o f ANOVA for the quan t i t ies
o f Herbage Allowance , Hay , and Total DM o f fered
per cow da i ly ( KgDM/cow/aay ) for the four t reatmen ts . . 56 4 . 1 . 3 Dat a for the i n vivo diges t i bi l i ty of the hay ,
for the Dry Matter , Energy , and Organi c Ma t t er ( % ) . . . . 57 4 . 1 . 4 . Mean values and resul ts of ANOVA for the quan t i t i es
of Me taboli zable Energy of fered from the Herbage , Hay and Total Energy Allowance ( MJME/cow/day ) for
the four t rea tmen t s . . . 57 4 . 1 . 5 . Mean values and resul ts of ANOVA for the quan t i t i es
of DM consumed from the Pas ture , Hay , and Total apparen t DM i n t ake ( KgDM/ cow/day ) , Fresh Ma t ter Intake ( kg/ cow/day ) , and Concen t ra t i on of the DM in t he whole d i e t (grDM/kg eaten) for the four
t rea t men t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 4 . 1 . 6 . Mean values and resul t s of ANOVA for t he quan t i t ies
of calculated ME consumed from the Pas ture Hay , and To tal apparen t ME intake ( MJME/ cow/day
)
for thefour t reatmen t s . . . 6 1 4 . 1 . 7 . Mean values and resul t s of ANOVA for t h e changes i n
t o t al i n t ake o f D M o r M E caused b y t h e consump t ion of hay ( 1kgDM or 1MJME) at the two herbage allowances in the s i x paddocks . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 4 . 1 . 8 . Mean values and resul t s of ANOVA for the quan t i t ies
of Res idual Herbage Mass of the paddocks (kgDM/ha ) , and Degree o f Defol iat ion+ (%) for the four
t reatmen t s . . . 64 i x
4 . 2 . 1 . Mean values and resul t s o f ANOVA for the Final Liveweigh t ( kg/cow) and Liveweigh t Gain and Ne t Liveweight Ga1n during 42 days of experimen tal
per i od for the four t rea tmen t s . . . 66 4 . 2 . 2 . Mean values and resul t s of ANOVA for the Final Body
Cond i t ion Score (un i t s ) and Body Cond i t ion Score Gain during the 42 days of experimen tal period
for t he four t rea tmen t s . . . 69 4 . 2 . 3 . Mean values for the quan t i t i es of �a ter Drunk
( li t res/ cow/day ) in each paddock and mean values and resul t s o f ANOVA for t he �a ter Drunk , �a ter i nges t ed wi t h t he Pas ture and wi th the Hay, and To t al Apparen t �a ter consumed (water drunk and
i nges t ea wi th feed ) for the four t reatmen t s . . . 7 3 4 . 2 . 4 . Mean values and resul ts o f ANOVA f o r var i ous measures
of �a t er Consump t i on in rela t i on to DM Intake. �a ter Drunk and Total DM Intake {li t res /kgDM ) L Extra �ater Drunk and Hay DM Intake ( l 1 t res/kg fiay uM) and
To tal Apparen t �ater Consumed and Total DM intake
( l i t reslkgDM) for the four t rea tmen t s . . . 75 4 . 2 . 5 . Mean values and range of the Env i romen tal
Cond i t ions during tfie experimental period . . . 76 4 . 2 . 6 . Correlat ion Coe f f i cients be tween envi ronmen tal
condi t ions and guan t i t ies of �a ter Drunk dur ing
t he experimen tal period . . . 7 7 4 . 2 . 7 . Mean values and results o f ANOVA for the Ra te of
B i t ing duri ng t he Firs t , Second and Thi rd Hour ( b i tes /minu te /cow ) af ter t h e cows were allocated
t o f resh pas ture for the four t reatmen t s . . . 79 4 . 2 . 8 . Mean values and resul ts of the ANOVA for the In t ake
per B i te (gr/bi t e) and Apparen t Total DM Intake ( kgDM ) during t he f i rs t hour a f t er the areas of f resh pas ture were offered each day for the four t reatmen t s . . . 80 4 . 2 . 9 . Mean values and resul t s of ANOVA for the Total
Periods o f T i me Spen t in the var ious Types of Behaviour during the hours o f Daylight (minutes)
for the four t reatmen ts . . . 81 5 . 2 . 1 . Compari s on o f t he calcula t ed to tal ME consumed using
t hree d i f ferent me thods o f calculat i on . . . 9 1
5 . 3 . 1 . Effect of Supplementat ion on Res idual Herbage Mass (KgDM/ha) . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5 . 4 . 1 . Reduc t ion i n I n t ake of Pas ture per Uni t of Addi t ional S�pplemen t� expressed i� kg/kgDM or MJME/MJME
g1ven to d 1 f feren t graz 1 ng anlmals . . . 102-105 5 . 6 . 1 . Es t ima ted requi rement s of Maintenance . . . 1 14 5 . 6 . 2 . Compari son be tween To t al Apparen t ME Intakes
calculat ed from the Measuremen t of Herbage Masses , and Theore t i cal ME Intakes calculated f rom the
animal performance measuremen t s . . . 1 1 5 5 . 8 . 1 . Ef fect o f Supplementat ion on change in Graz ing T i me (GT } expressed in minu t es
per kgDM consumed as supplemen t . . . 128 , 129 xi
LIST OF FIGURES
2 . 2 . 1 . Fac t ors affect ing the Animal Response to
Supplemen t a t i on . . . 13
4 . 2 . 1 Relat ionsh i p be tween Livewe igh t gains and Changes
i n Body Cond i t i on Score . . . 7 1
5 . 2 . 1 . Rela t i onship between Res idual Herbage Mass
and Pas t ure In t ake ( kgDM/cow/day ) . . . 8 7
5 . 2 . 2 . Rela t i onship be tween Herbage Allowance and
Pas ture I n t ake ( kgDM/ cow/day ) . . . 8 9
5 . 2 . 3 . Rela t i onship be tween ME Allowance
ME In take . . . 92
5 . 6 . 1 Gains i n Body Cond i t i on over 42 days
( Score/ cow) . . . 109
5 . 6 . 2 Relat i onshi p between Changes in Mat ernal Liveweight
and i n Body Cond i t ion Score . . . 1 1 2
5 . 8 . 1 Behavi ou r duri ng Day t ime . . . 1 2 7
LIST OF APPENDICES
4 . 2 . 1 Ind i vidual change in Liveweight and Body Cond i t i on Score over 42 days of the
Experimen tal Period . . . . .. . . . . . . 132
4 . 2 . 2 Regres s i on equat i on be tween Ma ternal
Livewe igh t Gains and Body Cond i t ion S core . . . .. .. . . . . 133 x i i i
