A NOTE ON THE EFFECT OF SUSTAINED EXERCISE ON STRAW INTAKE AND BODY-WEIGHT IN LACTATING CATTLE

The effect of exercise (walking 10.6 km/day and climbing 480 m/day) on intake of barley straw and body weight changes in 12 pregnant lactati ng suckler cows was investigated. Three groups of four cows received a d libitum barley straw and 4 kg per cow per day of different supplemen ts. Neither exercise nor supplement had a significant effect on straw intake. Cows gained weight when not exercised, but lost weight during the exercise period. The experiment confirms previous findings that an imals performing moderate work and given poor quality roughage, in the short term cannot increase daily intake to meet energy requirements a nd that intake may decrease when animals work.