Effects of additional paddock on the daily liveweight gain of Japanese shorthorn steers
1995
Nashiki, M. (Tohoku National Agricultural Experiment Station, Morioka (Japan)) | Meguro, R. | Suyama, T. | Fukuda, E. | Ohta, K.
A grazing experiment was carried out to clarify the effects of additional paddock on the liveweight gain of Japanese shorthorn steers. Two groups of four Japanese shorthorn stress (similar weight and age of 7-3 months old) were grazed on only Lolium paddock until mid-season of late July when herbage growth rate was high, and from early august one group was allowed to have access to Lolium additional paddocks (Pe group) and another one was allowed to graze Festuca additional paddock (Tf group). An allocated area per of Lolium paddock and additional paddock was in a 1:1 ratio. The range of daily mean gain per head in each year was 0.61-0.70kg in Pe group and 0.49-0.68kg in Tf group. Pe group tended to show a higher performance during the rearing stage of Japanese shorthorn steer than the Tf group. This tendency was attributed to high content of crude protein and high digestibility in herbage as well as sufficient total digestible nutrient intake rate of steers in Lolium additional paddock compared to Festuca additional paddock in latter half of the grazing season. The experimental results confirm that combination of Lolium additional paddock and Lolium paddock in a 1:1 ratio could achieve high performance of daily liveweight gain of Japanese shorthorn steer through grazing season, especially during summer and autumn
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