Estimating forage intake of crossbred dairy cows from grazing natural pasture during dry season
2004
Tadesse Bekele | Sibsibe Demisse
Dry season forage supplementation remained one of the major problems in the highlands. Farmers use grazing during dry season. However, the quantity of pasture grazed is not known to supplement dairy cows indoors. A cow feeding trial employing 12 dry pregnant crossbred cows was carried out in two periods using cross over design. Forage DM intake was reduced for cows grazed out door during both feeding periods. However, concentrate intake was higher for cows grazed out door than cows fed indoor (P0.05). The larger breed had more DM intake than smaller breed both indoor and outdoor (P0.05). Although, cows grazed outdoor, had lower DM intake as compared to indoor fed cows, the reduced amount was very low indicating low quantity of forage is available from grazing during dry seasons. Forage available for grazing was estimated at 1.6 kg per day per head. Dairy cattle need additional roughage feeding during dry season in the highlands.
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This bibliographic record has been provided by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research