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The prediction of food intake of lactating dairy cows offered grass silage or mixed forage-based diets throughout lactation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

T.W.J. Keady*
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, U.K.
C.S. Mayne
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, U.K.
D.J. Kilpatrick
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, U.K.
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Extract

Accurate prediction of daily food intake is a fundamental pre-requisite of any nutritional model designed to provide feeding recommendations for lactating dairy cattle. From an evaluation of five of the most commonly used models to predict food intake, Keady et al. (2001) observed a considerable range of accuracy of prediction, with some under-predicting intake by 0.9 kg DM/cow/day, whilst others over-predicted intake by up to 2.9 kg DM/cow/day. The aim of the current study was to develop a model, encompassing both animal and feed variables, which accurately predicts food intake of lactating dairy cattle offered a range of diets in production systems currently employed on dairy farms. The new model has been adopted to predict food intake in the Feed into Milk (FIM) rationing system.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2004

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References

Keady, T.W.J., Mayne, C.S. and Kilpatrick, D.J. (2001). Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, p.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vadiveloo, J. and Holmes, W. (1979) Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge, 93: 553562.Google Scholar