What is it about?
Grazing systems promote animal welfare, improve animal products (meat and milk) composition characteristics, but present disadvantages like fluctuations of availability throughout the year. On the other hand, confinement systems, using TMR, facilitate an accurate balance of nutrients and therefore to reach programed production levels. Hypothetically, if we combined the use of TMR and fresh high quality pastures would allow the exploiting of the advantages of both systems. We studied increasing levels of fresh alfalfa in the diet by decreasing total mixed ration in growing lambs.
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Why is it important?
As alfalfa in the diet increased, lambs spent more time eating, ruminating and less time resting. These changes led to higher intake of nutrients as the level of alfalfa increased. There were no negative consequences on digestion and rumen environment. Overall, the inclusion of fresh alfalfa in the diet was positive from a nutritional point of view.
Perspectives
Based on the results of the study, the use of mixed diets combining TMR with fresh forage, alternately throughout the day, can be an interesting tool for lambs raised in semi-intensive systems to increase growth rates.
Dr Analía Pérez Ruchel
Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Supplementing high-quality fresh forage to growing lambs fed a total mixed ration diet led to higher intake without altering nutrient utilization, animal, May 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1751731117000933.
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