Evaluation of the basal forage diet of village cows

[摘要] Theforagefraction(especiallycanetopswhichwerethedominantcomponent)ofthethedietofvillagecowswasassessedbychemicalanalysis,insitu(nylonbag)rumendegradabilityandbydirectobservationofeatingbehaviourandforageselectionpracticesbythecowkeepers.Cowkeepersdiscardedcanetopsthathadfloweringheadsandcarefullyremovedmatureanddryleaves.Cowsbeganeatingthecanetopstartingatthesheathbundle(whichrepresented48%byweightofthetops)andconsumedonlypartofthegreenleafblade,oneithersideofthemidrib.Thesheathbundlehadlessnitrogen(0.88%inDM)anddrymatter(19%)thantheleafblade(1.17%Nand31%DM).ThemeanNcontentoftheassortedforageswas1.6%inDM.Drymatterdegradationintherumenwasmorerapidforthesheathbundle(56%lossat24hr)thanfortheleafblade(34%)andwasthesameasfortheassortedforages(55%).Thecowkeepersofferedeachcowsome70kg/dofwholecanetops(meanDM=28%)ofwhichthecowsconsumedonly55%.Comparabledatafortheassortedforageswere65kgoffereddaily(23%DM)ofwhich84%wasconsumed.TotalDMintakeswere3.8and4.3kgDMper100kgliveweightforcanetopsandassortedforagesrespectively.

[学科分类] 农业科学（综合）