Publication Date
1989
Description
The total amount of a forage feed eaten by an animal may be regarded as the product of rate of eating and time spent eating. Balch and Campling (1962) suggested that it is controlled largely by the rate at which the forage can be broken down physically and passed through the foregut. Differences in voluntary
intake between forage feeds may, however, be due to the effects of extrinsic factors such as environment, animal condition and feed presentation, or to inherent feed characteristics which control the rate and extent of breakdown and digestion. The degree to which physical plant characteristics may affect voluntary mtake has received much attention in recent years but their specific effects on components of intake are not resolved. The process of eating, however, is closely concerned with the physical disruption and manipulation of coarse, fibrous material. The rate at which this is accomplished should, therefore, bear a close relationship with the physical characteristics of the feed. The work described here was concerned with the establishment of experimental conditions under which eating rates could be measured with minimum variability, to assess differences in the eating rates of contrasting forages and to examine its relationship with voluntary intake.
Citation
Moseley, G and Antuna Manendez, A, "Factor Affecting the Eating Rate of Forage Feeds" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 17.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session7/17
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Factor Affecting the Eating Rate of Forage Feeds
The total amount of a forage feed eaten by an animal may be regarded as the product of rate of eating and time spent eating. Balch and Campling (1962) suggested that it is controlled largely by the rate at which the forage can be broken down physically and passed through the foregut. Differences in voluntary
intake between forage feeds may, however, be due to the effects of extrinsic factors such as environment, animal condition and feed presentation, or to inherent feed characteristics which control the rate and extent of breakdown and digestion. The degree to which physical plant characteristics may affect voluntary mtake has received much attention in recent years but their specific effects on components of intake are not resolved. The process of eating, however, is closely concerned with the physical disruption and manipulation of coarse, fibrous material. The rate at which this is accomplished should, therefore, bear a close relationship with the physical characteristics of the feed. The work described here was concerned with the establishment of experimental conditions under which eating rates could be measured with minimum variability, to assess differences in the eating rates of contrasting forages and to examine its relationship with voluntary intake.
