Roughage intake of dairy cows with special consideration of the behaviour. 2. Equations for the estimation of the roughage intake
Francke, H.; Junge, W.; Kalm, E.
Zuchtungskunde 62(6): 468-480
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0044-5401 Accession: 002213866
Roughage intake and feeding behaviour of 65 German Red Pied and Black Pied Dairy cows in their first to 7th lactation was studied on day 8 to 248. Roughage was freely available and concentrates were given according to milk yield. Daily roughage intake depended on eating rate (r = 0.62) and intake per meal (r = 0.69). Compared with all other variables, daily roughage intake and time spent daily at the feeding rack were most closely correlated (r = 0.47). To evaluate different equations, data were divided into 2 sets to formulate the equation and to test it.