Effects of Feeding Ground Felled Bamboo on Intake, Chewing Time, Ruminal Fermentation and Blood Characteristics in Breeding Japanese Black Cows

Abstract

Feeding trials were conducted in a Youden square design with four maintenance breeding Japanese black cows. Four diet treatments and three trial periods were used to examine the effects of inclusion levels of ground felled bamboo (GFB) (Phyllostachys pubescens) in the diet on intake, chewing time, rumen fermentation and blood compositions. The treatments were conducted in 0％, 13％, 18％ and 24％ inclusions of GFB in the basal diet that consisted of 84％ tall fescue hay and 16％ concentrates on a dry matter basis. Intake had a tendency to be increased by an increased inclusion level of GFB, and the cows in all treatments could consume enough total digestible nutrients to meet the energy requirement for maintenance. The chewing time in 18％ and 24％ GFB treatments were significantly lower than that of the 0％ treatment (P<0.05), but they were higher than 30 minutes per 1kg dry matter intake, which is the shortest chewing time to maintain rumen function. The parameters in the rumen fluid and the blood were not significantly different among the treatments. These results suggested that 24％ of dry matter in the diet could be replaced with GFB without adverse effects on the nutritional status in maintenance breeding Japanese black cows.