This study examined the relationship of residual feed intake (RFI) and performance with feeding behavior and ruminal fermentation variables in pregnant beef cows offered a grass silage diet. Individual grass silage DMI (dry matter digestibility = 666 g/kg) was recorded on 47 gestating (mean gestation d 166, SD = 26 d) Simmental and Simmental × Holstein-Friesian beef cows for a period of 80 d. C...

One of the difficulties in reporting accurate radiocarbon results from compoundspecific radiocarbon analysis (CSRA) is the lack of suitable process standard materials to correct for the amount and C content of carbon added during extensive sample processing. We evaluated the use of n-alkanes extracted from modern grass material (1.224 ±0.006 fraction modern) as process standards for CSRA. The n...

BACKGROUND The Hoary Edge Skipper (Achalarus lyciades) is an eastern North America endemic butterfly from the Eudaminae subfamily of skippers named for an underside whitish patch near the hindwing edge. Its caterpillars feed on legumes, in contrast to Grass skippers (subfamily Hesperiinae) which feed exclusively on monocots. RESULTS To better understand the evolution and phenotypic diversific...

Feeding sheep a concentrate diet compared with grass diets increased the hepatic specific activities of the three glycolytic enzymes studied, and that of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49) and reduced the specific activity of D-fructose-I, 6-diphosphate I-phosphohydrolase (EC 3.1.3.11). The specific activities of phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.43) and malate dehydrogenase...

The objective was to investigate effects of feeding lambs fresh versus dried Puccinellia. tenuiflora (Griesb.) Scribn. & Merr. on nutrient and water intake apparent digestibility. Twenty-four were offered or (48 hr) grass. dry matter (DM) content grass 65% the neutral detergent fiber exclude ash (aNDFom) 87% grass, whereas metabolizable energy concentration two forages similar. Lambs eating had...

Recent findings suggest that herbivores select feeding sites of intermediate biomass in order to maximise their digestible nutrient intake as the result of the trade-off between forage quality and quantity (‘forage maturation hypothesis’). We propose a reformulation of this hypothesis which recognises this trade-off, but also underlines that constraints due to body mass (i.e. metabolism and dig...

Fresh grass is often a fodder of high nutritive value for ruminants, but its intake is limited in spite of its high digestibility. The high water content of fresh grass could limit grass DM intake by cows. The effect of external water on intake, feeding behaviour and rumen fill was studied in dairy cows fed indoors with fresh perennial ryegrass offered ad libitum. Three treatments were compared...