Efficiency of feed utilisation by livestock — Implications and benefits of genetic improvement

Arthur, P. F.; Herd, R. M.

doi:10.4141/a04-062

Cited by 49 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Taking into account that evaporative water loss in the genotype is constant, the differences between water intake (drinking + adsorbed) and water loss (feces + urine) calculated for these heifers could reflect their differences in water use efficiency [14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Efficiency Of Water Utilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residual Feed Intake, Digestibility of Nutrients and Efficiency of Water Utilizations in Murrah Buffalo Heifers

Negesse

Datt

Kundu

2017

JDVAR

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A metabolism trial was conducted for 7d to determine residual feed intake (RFI=measure of the difference between actual feed intake and expected feed requirement), dry matter intake (DMI), digestibility and metabolism of nutrients at the end of a 57 days (d) of a feeding trial with 18 Murrah buffalo heifers (279kg±16; and 684±131d of age). Preliminary selection of heifers as efficient and less efficient was done by regressing actual DMI on predicted DMI (g/head/d) using the model DMI (g/kg BW) = β 0 + β predicted DMI (g/kg BW) and RFI categories were sorted out by regressing mean DMI for the 57 days feeding period on BWG and mid-test MBW using the model Yi = β0 + β1 BWG (g/d) + β2 mid-test MBW (kg) + ei; where Yi = DMI, β0 = regression intercept, β1 and β2 = regression coefficients on BWG and mid-test MBW, respectively, and ei = uncontrolled error or RFI, heifers with +ve RFI values are less efficient and those with -ve RFI values efficient. Differences were not statistically significant. The actual dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), digestible organic matter (DOM) and total digestible nutrient (TDN) intakes of RFI-I heifers (6.73±0.56; 0.99±0.008; 5.06±0.47; and 4.95±0.47 kg/head/d, respectively) were not different from those of RFI-II (6.51±0.50; 0.97±0.07; 5.11±0.42; and 5.00±0.42 kg/head/d, respectively). RFI-II heifers digested DM, OM and NDF (70.84±1.48; 73.96±1.54 and 66.33±2.08%, respectively) better than those of RFI-I heifers (68.74±1.66; 71.49±1.72% and 63.05±2.32%, respectively) and thus RFI-II had higher N balance (45±8 head/d) than that of RFI-I heifers (38±9 g/head/d). Water loss per unit of water intake (WI) in feces of RFI-II (69.70±8.40 %) was lower than that of RFI-I heifers (73.41 ± 9.39%) and improved amount of water available for RFI-II for metabolism as a result of which water loss in urine proportionally increased in RFI-II (32.65 ± 2.04%WI) than in RFI-I heifers (31.84 ± 2.28%WI). Water loss per unit of DMI in feces (157 ± 18 vs. 145 ± 16 % DMI) and urine (69 ± 10 vs. 76 ± 9 %DMI, for RFI-I vs. RFI-II, respectively) followed similar trend as that of water loss per unit of WI. Mainly because of small sample size differences in nutrient intakes between RFI-I and RFI-II heifers were not significant; however, RFI-II with similar feed intake had higher N-balance, digestibility of nutrients and level of water utilization and could be selected as being more feed efficient heifers.

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Section: Efficiency Of Water Utilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residual Feed Intake, Digestibility of Nutrients and Efficiency of Water Utilizations in Murrah Buffalo Heifers

Negesse

Datt

Kundu

2017

JDVAR

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“…Residual feed intake is the difference between the actual feed intake of an animal and its expected feed intake based on its size and growth over a specified test period (Koch et al, 1963;Richardson et al, 2001). A moderate heritability (ranging from 0.14 to 0.41) indicates that improvements in efficiency can be achieved through genetic selection (Pitchford, 2004;Arthur and Herd, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among measures of growth performance and efficiency with carcass traits, visceral organ mass, and pancreatic digestive enzymes in feedlot cattle1,2

Mader

Montanholi

Wang

et al. 2009

Journal of Animal Science

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Ninety-three crossbred steer calves (BW+/-SD=385+/-50 kg) were used (n=48 steers in yr 1, n=45 steers in yr 2) to examine the relationship among carcass traits, lean, bone, and fat proportions, visceral tissue weights, and pancreatic digestive enzyme activity with DMI, ADG, G:F, and residual feed intake. Calves were progeny from crossbred dams predominantly of Angus and Simmental breeding and were sired by Angus, Simmental, crossbred (predominantly of Angus and Simmental breeding), Charolais, or Piedmontese bulls. Steers were fed a high-moisture corn-based diet for an average of 112 d. Partial correlation analysis accounting for year, pen within year, week of slaughter within year, and sire breed was conducted. Gain:feed was negatively correlated (P 0.10) between performance measures and the pancreatic proportional content of alpha-amylase and trypsin activity (units/kg of BW). These data indicate that carcass fatness traits and changes in the proportional weight of total viscera may be negatively associated with G:F and that visceral fat weight proportion and trim and kidney fat weight proportion may be important factors influencing this relationship.

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“…Under this principle, the evaluation of RFI using animals of different ages should be valid. However, physiological maturity has been implicated as a source of variation when determining RFI [16] as feed efficiency measurements are dependent on the stage of maturity of the animals at evaluation [22].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of physiological age on residual feed intake of growing heifers

Loyd¹,

Long²,

Lewis³

et al. 2011

OJAS

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Using a retrospective evaluation of feed efficiency, this study investigated the effects of physiological age on residual feed intake (RFI) in growing heifers. Data were collected during 1973 and 1974 at the McGregor location of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Heifers (n = 77) were obtained from a large crossbreeding program utilizing a five-breed diallel mating scheme using Angus, Brahman, Hereford, Holstein and Jersey breeds. At approximately 6 months of age, pre-pubertal heifers were individually penned and received ad libitum access to a balanced diet. Individual feed intake and body weight data were collected at 28-day intervals for 84 days prior to puberty and for 90 days after puberty. The diet was changed at puberty to provide a lower energy density. Considering all females as cohorts, RFI was calculated for each heifer for each period using separate models for the pre-and post-pubertal periods. A moderate, positive Pearson correlation (r = 0.48; P < 0.001) was detected between pre-and post-pubertal RFI. Furthermore, heifer RFI rank was compared between the pre-and post-pubertal periods using Spearman rank order correlation and a similar correlation (r = 0.46; P < 0.001) was revealed. This suggests that RFI determined during the pre-pubertal period may only be a moderate predictor of post-pubertal RFI. As a result, physiological age should be considered when evaluating cattle for feed efficiency using RFI.

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Efficiency of feed utilisation by livestock — Implications and benefits of genetic improvement

Cited by 49 publications

References 38 publications

Residual Feed Intake, Digestibility of Nutrients and Efficiency of Water Utilizations in Murrah Buffalo Heifers

Residual Feed Intake, Digestibility of Nutrients and Efficiency of Water Utilizations in Murrah Buffalo Heifers

Relationships among measures of growth performance and efficiency with carcass traits, visceral organ mass, and pancreatic digestive enzymes in feedlot cattle1,2

Effects of physiological age on residual feed intake of growing heifers

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