Feeding behavior of dairy cows on pasture fed detoxicated castor meal in the diet

This study evaluated the feeding behavior of lactating cows on pasture of Brachiaria (Urochloa) decumbens fed with concentrate supplementation containing different levels of castor meal inclusion treated with calcium hydroxide Ca (OH) 2, in the proportions of 0; 3.3; 6.6 to 10% of the total diet. Ei...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Antonio Ferraz Porto Junior, Fabiano Ferreira da Silva, Robério Rodrigues Silva, Alex Schio Resende, Dicastro Dias de Souza, Murilo de Almeida Meneses, Eli Santana de Oliveira Rodrigues, Bismarck Moreira Santiago, Agnaldo Rios da Silva, Andrêssa Pires dos Santos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Estadual de Londrina 2016-12-01
Series:Semina: Ciências Agrárias
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Online Access:http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/semagrarias/article/view/24594
Description
Summary:This study evaluated the feeding behavior of lactating cows on pasture of Brachiaria (Urochloa) decumbens fed with concentrate supplementation containing different levels of castor meal inclusion treated with calcium hydroxide Ca (OH) 2, in the proportions of 0; 3.3; 6.6 to 10% of the total diet. Eight cows (degree of blood ½ to ¾ Holstein x Zebu), with previous average production of 3000-4000 kg adjusted to 300 days of lactation and average body weight of 465.16 kg ± 65.45 kg were distributed in two 4 x 4 Latin squares. The behavior was assessed every five minutes for 24 hours on the 21st day of each period. The results were tested by analysis of variance and regression at p < 0.05 probability. The time spent in grazing, rumination, idle and in the trough; total chewing time, number of cuds per day, chewing per day; chewing per cud; the number of periods of grazing, rumination, idle and in the trough; time spent by period of grazing, rumination, idle and in the trough were not different between treatments. The feed efficiency (g DM h-1; g NDFa h-1 and g TDN h-1) and time spent per cud ruminated TSR sec cud-1) were linearly reduced. It is recommended to include up to 10% castor meal treated with Ca (OH)2 in the total diet.
ISSN:1676-546X
1679-0359