Effect of sward height and concentrate supplementation on forage dry matter intake, digestibility and grazing time of spring-calving beef cows

To establish the effect of sward height (SH) and concentrate supplementation on performance of grazing cattle, twenty-four cross bred Angus beef cow-calves were randomly assigned to two SH treatments (4--8 or 8--11 cm) with three supplement levels: 6.24, 3.12 or 0 kg/d. The study was conducted in three periods (P): May (P1), June/July (P2) and August (P3) in 1996. There was no SH x supplement level x period or SH x supplement level interaction (P > .10) on forage DMI, DMD or grazing time (GT). Cows on low SH had greater (P < .08) DMI and GT (P < .01) than cows on high SH. Forage DMI, DMD and GT decreased (P < .05) with supplementation. Grazing efficiency declined with supplementation and advancing grazing season (P < .01). Cows consumed more forage DM (P < .01) in P1 and P2 than P3. Forage DMI and grazing efficiency decreased with supplementation suggesting that supplemented cattle can optimally be grazed at SH < 8 cm.

Name thesis:degree_name

MS

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Animal and Nutritional Sciences

Year dc:date.available

1999

Author dc:creator

• Gekara, Ondieki J.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Edward C. Prigge.

• Animal sciences

Identifier

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/976

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1979