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Grass hay as a supplement for grazing cattle. I. Animal performance
Author
Villalobos, G.
Adams, D. C.
Klopfenstein, T. J.
Nichols, J. T.
Lamb, J. B.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1997-07-01
Body

Regrowth grass hay produced on subirrigated meadows in the Nebraska Sandhills was evaluated as a supplement for gestating beef cows grazing winter range. Ninety-six crossbred spring calving, gestating beef cows were used in a winter supplementation study on upland Sandhills range from 5 November to 27 February in 1990 and again in 1991. Cows were divided into 4 treatments (24 cows/treatment): 1) control (range forage only, no supplement); 2) range forage and 2.2 kg cow-1 day-1 of meadow regrowth hay (15.5% crude protein); 3) range forage and 1.2 kg cow-1 day-1 of a 30% wheat grain and 70% soybean meal:30% wheat supplement (36.0% crude protein); and 4) range forage with supplements in treatments 2 and 3 fed on alternate days. Meadow hay and soybean meal:wheat supplements provided 0.32 kg of crude protein/cow daily. Supplemented cows gained 3 to 53 kg body weight/year and maintained body condition, while control cows lost an average of 24.5 kg body weight/year and lost body condition. Intake of range forage was less (P < 0.05) by cows fed meadow hay and soybean meal:wheat supplements on alternate days than by cows on other treatments. Digestibility of range forage was lower (P < 0.05) for supplemented cows than control cows, but differences were small (avg. = 2%). Calving date, birth and weaning weights, and pregnancy rate were similar (P > 0.05) for all treatments. We concluded that subirrigated meadow regrowth grass hay was an effective alternative to traditional soybean meal-based supplements for maintaining body weight and body condition of gestating beef cows grazing winter range. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/4003298
Additional Information
Villalobos, G., Adams, D. C., Klopfenstein, T. J., Nichols, J. T., & Lamb, J. B. (1997). Grass hay as a supplement for grazing cattle. I. Animal performance. Journal of Range Management, 50(4), 351-356.
ISSN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/644106
Journal Volume
50
Journal Number
4
Journal Pages
351-356
Collection
Rangeland Ecology & Management (REM)
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
pregnancy
body condition
liveweight gain
reproductive performance
chemical composition
Nebraska
beef cows
hay
dietary supplements
feed supplements
in vitro digestibility
grasses
feed intake