Diet Digestibility, Rate of Passage, and Eating and Rumination Behavior of Jersey and Holstein Cows

• Published in: Journal of dairy science Vol. 91; no. 3; pp. 1103 - 1114
• Main Authors: Aikman, P.C., Reynolds, C.K., Beever, D.E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Savoy, IL Elsevier Inc 01.03.2008; American Dairy Science Association; Am Dairy Sci Assoc
• Subjects: Animal productions; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight; breed differences; Cattle - physiology; cow feeding; dairy cows; Diet; digestibility; Digestion; dry matter intake; Eating; Energy Intake; Energy Metabolism; feeding behavior; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gastrointestinal transit; Gastrointestinal Transit - physiology; gestation period; Holstein; Jersey; Kinetics; Lactation; Mastication; milk yield; neutral detergent fiber; Nitrogen - metabolism; rate of passage; Rumen - metabolism; ruminant nutrition; rumination; Species Specificity; Terrestrial animal productions; Vertebrates; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; rate of passage; Jersey; digestibility; rumination; Farming animal; Feeding behavior; Rate; Dairy cattle; Ox; Cow; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Diet; Dairy industry; Artiodactyla; Rumination; Ungulata; Digestibility
• ISSN: 0022-0302; 1525-3198
• DOI: 10.3168/jds.2007-0724

Diet digestibility and rate of passage, eating and rumination behavior, dry matter intake (DMI), and lactation performance were compared in 6 Jersey and 6 Holstein multiparous cows. Cows were fed gestation diets according to body weight (BW) beginning 7 wk before expected calving and ad libitum amounts of a lactation diet postpartum. Diet digestibility and rate of passage were measured in 5-d periods at wk 5 prepartum and wk 6 and 14 of lactation. Eating and ruminating behavior was measured over 5-d periods at wk 5 and 2 prepartum and wk 2, 6, 10, and 14 of lactation. Milk yield and DMI were higher in Holsteins, but milk energy output per kilogram of metabolic BW (BW0.75) and intake capacity (DMI/kg of BW) did not differ between breeds. Holsteins spent longer ruminating per day compared with Jerseys, but daily eating time did not differ between breeds. Jerseys spent more time eating and ruminating per unit of ingested feed. The duration and number of meals consumed did not differ between breeds, but the meals consumed by Jerseys were distributed more evenly throughout each 24-h period, providing a more regular supply of feed to the rumen. Feed passed through the digestive tract more quickly in Jerseys compared with Holsteins, suggesting particle breakdown and rumen outflow were faster in Jerseys, but this may also reflect the relative size of their digestive tract. Neutral detergent fiber digestibility was greater in Jerseys, despite the shorter rumen retention time, but digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, starch, and N did not differ between breeds. Utilization of digested N for tissue retention was higher at wk 5 prepartum and lower at wk 14 of lactation in Jerseys. In contrast to numerous published studies, intake capacity of Jerseys was not higher than that of Holsteins, but in the present study, cows were selected on the basis of equal expected milk energy yield per kilogram of metabolic BW. Digestibility of neutral detergent fiber and rate of digesta passage were higher in Jerseys, probably as a consequence of increased mastication per unit of feed consumed in Jerseys and their smaller size.