Three-breed rotational crossbreds of Montbéliarde, Viking Red, and Holstein compared with Holstein cows for feed efficiency, income over feed cost, and residual feed intake

Genetic Regulation of Feed Efficiency in Lactating Holstein Cows

Residual Feed Intake and Feed Efficiency: Differences and Implications

In the beef production system, 70-75% of the total dietary energy is used for maintenance (Ferrell and Jenkins 1984; NRC 1996; Montaldo-Bermudez et al. 1990). Thus, while only 5% of the total life cycle dietary energy consumption is used for protein deposition in beef cattle, swine and poultry are more efficient at 14 and 22%, respectively. The relatively large size, slow maturity and slow repr...

Feed Efficiency Opportunities with 2008 Feed Cost

With the milk to feed ratio at 2.36 in February, 2008, dairy managers must carefully reviewing feed inputs relative to milk yield. A milk to feed ratio under 3 is a signal to reduce feed inputs. Feed efficiency (also referred to as milk performance efficiency and dairy efficiency) can be defined as pounds of 3.5%FCM (fat corrected milk) produced per pound of dry matter (DM) consumed. Monitoring...

FABP4 is a leading candidate gene associated with residual feed intake in growing Holstein calves.

Ecological and economic concerns drive the need to improve feed utilization by domestic animals. Residual feed intake (RFI) is one of the most acceptable measures for feed efficiency (FE). However, phenotyping RFI-related traits is complex and expensive and requires special equipment. Advances in marker technology allow the development of various DNA-based selection tools. To assimilate these t...

Short-term feed intake is regulated by macronutrient oxidation in lactating Holstein cows.

In addition to plasma metabolites and hormones participating as humoral signals in the control of feed intake, oxidative metabolic processes in peripheral organs also generate signals to terminate feeding. Although the degree of oxidation over longer periods is relatively constant, recent work suggests that the periprandial pattern of fuel oxidation is involved in regulating feeding behavior in...