| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
* Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1J 4B1
Department of Basic Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
1 Corresponding author: beauchemink{at}agr.gc.ca
Four multiparous Holstein cows in midlactation were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square to evaluate whether source of forage influenced salivary secretion during eating in lactating dairy cows. The forages were allocated separately from the pelleted concentrates. Cows were offered 1 of 4 forages each period: barley silage, alfalfa silage, long-stemmed alfalfa hay, or chopped barley straw. Saliva secretion was measured during the morning meal by collecting masticates through the rumen cannula at the cardia of each cow. Rate of salivation (213 g/min) was not affected by forage source. However, the forage sources differed in eating rate (g of DM/min), which led to differences in ensalivation of forages (g of saliva/g of DM and g of saliva/g of NDF). On the basis of DM, ensalivation (g of saliva/g of DM) was greatest for straw (7.23) and similar for barley silage, alfalfa silage, and alfalfa hay (4.15, 3.40, and 4.34 g/g of DM, respectively). Higher ensalivation of straw could be accounted for by its higher neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content; ensalivation of NDF (g of saliva/g of NDF) was actually greatest for long-stemmed alfalfa hay (12.4) and similar for the other chopped forages (8.9). Cows consumed concentrate about 3 to 12 times faster than the various forages (DM basis), and ensalivation of concentrate was much lower (1.12 g of saliva/g of DM) than for forages. Feed characteristics such as particle size, DM, and NDF content affect salivary output during eating by affecting the eating rate. Slower eating rate and greater time spent eating may help prevent ruminal acidosis by increasing the total daily salivary secretion in dairy cows.
Key Words: dairy cow • salivation • eating behavior • chewing
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. J. DeVries, K. A. Beauchemin, F. Dohme, and K. S. Schwartzkopf-Genswein Repeated ruminal acidosis challenges in lactating dairy cows at high and low risk for developing acidosis: Feeding, ruminating, and lying behavior J Dairy Sci, October 1, 2009; 92(10): 5067 - 5078. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. J. DeVries and M. A. G. von Keyserlingk Competition for feed affects the feeding behavior of growing dairy heifers J Dairy Sci, August 1, 2009; 92(8): 3922 - 3929. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. A. Gonzalez, L. B. Correa, A. Ferret, X. Manteca, J. L. Ruiz-de-la-Torre, and S. Calsamiglia Intake, water consumption, ruminal fermentation, and stress response of beef heifers fed after different lengths of delays in the daily feed delivery time J Anim Sci, August 1, 2009; 87(8): 2709 - 2718. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. Z. Yang and K. A. Beauchemin Increasing physically effective fiber content of dairy cow diets through forage proportion versus forage chop length: Chewing and ruminal pH J Dairy Sci, April 1, 2009; 92(4): 1603 - 1615. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. J. DeVries and M. A. G. von Keyserlingk Short communication: Feeding method affects the feeding behavior of growing dairy heifers J Dairy Sci, March 1, 2009; 92(3): 1161 - 1168. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Kowsar, G. R. Ghorbani, M. Alikhani, M. Khorvash, and A. Nikkhah Corn Silage Partially Replacing Short Alfalfa Hay to Optimize Forage Use in Total Mixed Rations for Lactating Cows J Dairy Sci, December 1, 2008; 91(12): 4755 - 4764. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
