The effects of feeding frequency on the growth and efficiency of food utilization of ruminants: an analysis of published results

Abstract

An analysis of published data on the effects of feeding frequency on cattle gave the following results. On average, increasing feeding frequency increased average daily gain by 16·2±4·8%. The efficiency of growth was increased by 18·7±60·%, indicating that improvements in average daily gain were due largely to improvements in efficiency of food utilization. Much of the improvement in average daily gain and efficiency of food utilization was attributable to increasing feeding frequency from one or two meals per day to four, but there was some evidence of further improvement at higher feeding frequencies.In terms of experimentation it was concluded that, in general, nutritional or genetic comparisons of growth and efficiency should be carried out with a strict control of feeding frequency. In terms of animal production it was concluded that cattle should be fed at least four times daily to ensure maximum food efficiency for growth.The magnitude of the response of average daily gain to feeding frequency was dependent on several experimental variables. In particular, the response appeared to be greater when the level of average daily gain was low and when the level of concentrates was high. The variables examined seemed unable to account wholly for the differences in response found in different experiments. Predicting the magnitude of the response under defined experimental conditions therefore remains extremely difficult.Although rather more limited, results with sheep supported the conclusions drawn from the results with cattle.