Factors Affecting Feed Intake of Beef Cattle in Grazing System

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Abstract

The profit of cattle production is based on feed intake and its use efficiency by animals. Beef cattle production is majorly suitable in grazing system because it needs lower nutrients than dairy cattle. However, the knowledge on matching feed supply and nutrient need of cattle on pastures is complex because cattle collect a diversity of feeds. The study on feed intake and factors influencing on it is important to make sure the maximum intake of cattle. As grasses and legumes are the main feeds in grazing system, its fibre and cell wall contents affect definitely on the digestion of animal, resulting the variation in amount of feed consumed. The supplementation of concentrated feeds may restrict the feed consumption because high level of starch may affect microbial activity in rumen. Reversely, the feed intake of grazing cattle can be improved if best amount of supplementation is given. Otherwise, physical and physiological factors of animal also play important role to determine the feed consumption of cattle, for instance, the difference of feed intake between fat and thin cattle, pregnant and non-pregnant cows or lactating and non-lactating cows. Lastly, the most critical factor that affects the consumption of feeds of grazing beef cattle is the environmental traits which are characteristics of pasture, temperature and parasitic diseases. These factors partly and totally influence the other two factors above.

1. Introduction

Providing feed is the largest input for animal production. It relies upon feed intake and efficiency to use feed by animals. According to Forbes (2007), feed intake refers to the amount of feed that one animal or group of animal can freely eat during a specific period of time. The intake is imp...

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