Today's date: June 18, 2013
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| Understanding Feed Intake |
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September 26, 2012 |
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| Weekly ag colum by Mike Boersma County Extension Educator with the U of M Extension Service in Murray and Pipestone Counties | |
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Many beef producers will be placing calves on feed in the coming weeks. And, inevitably, many of these cattle feeders will find that their calves seem to be eating considerably more or considerably less than they had anticipated. But, why are calves' feed intakes so unpredictable at times? Following are a few factors that commonly affect feed intake:
Physiological Factors. Body composition can affect feed intake. In a 1988 study, Fox et al. suggested that feed intake decreases by 2.7 percent for every one percent increase in body fat from 21.3 percent to 31.5 percent body fat. Therefore, animals with a greater percentage of body fat may have lower feed intake at a given weight. To read the rest of this article - pick up a copy of the Murray County News or you can read it on line - subscriptions to The Murray County News are available online. Click on the free demo and it will give you instructions on how to subscribe for the online edition. |
©Murray County News 2013