Method for adaptation to concentrate after grazing period.
1991
Oshio S. | Tahata I.
Six cattle equipped with a rumen fistula were divided into two groups after a long grazing period to develop a method of adaptation to high concentrate feeding: namely, the rate of rolled barley used as concentrate was increased in Group A to reach a daily value of 5g in terms of metabolic body size and in Group B to reach a weekly increment of 33g/MBS. The daily changes of feed intake and amount of fermentation products as well as the degradation rate of hay in the rumen with the increment of concentrate supplied were analyzed. The results were as follows: In Group A, it was possible to reach a daily concentrate intake of 80g/MBS except for a limited decrease of concentrate intake of 50g/MBS. On the other hand, rumen fermentation in Group B was severely impaired. There was a marked decrease of pH, or sudden increase of content of lactic acid on the second day of the second week when the intake of concentrate increased from 33g to 66g/MBS. Thereafter, the total feed intake was greatly reduced and the percentage of concentrate in the total intake also decreased to less than 50%. It took about one month for the intake to recover. Based on these results, it was recommended that grazing or high roughage feeding should be gradually changed to high concentrate feeding with a daily increase rate of less than 5g/MBS. Simultaneously, the relationship between the percentage of concentrate in total intake and amount of fermentation products or degradation rate of hay in the rumen was analyzed.
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