Cows will typically experience a 30 to 35% reduction in feed intake during the final two to three weeks prior to calving. Blood fatty acids at calving are negatively related to feed intake and positively related to incidence of postpartum metabolic disorders. Feed and manage cows to maximize feed intake during the transition period. Over conditioned cows are likely to have poor appetites, but d...

All mechanistic rumen models cover the main drivers of variation in rumen function, which are feed intake, the differences between feedstuffs and feeds in their intrinsic rumen degradation characteristics, and fractional outflow rate of fluid and particulate matter. Dynamic modeling approaches are best suited to the prediction of more nuanced responses in rumen metabolism, and represent the dyn...

The ability of rumen microbiota to incorporate inorganic sulfate into cystine and methionine was suggested by Loosli et al. (1949) and demonstrated by Block et al. (1951) through use of radioactive sodium sulfate. The significance of this incorporation as applied to ruminant nutrition has been discussed by Davis et al. (1954). Formation of microbial protein in the rumen of cattle is accompanied...

Rumen of cattle harbors many microorganisms responsible for bioconversion of nutrients into a source of energy for the animals. In recent years many rumen microbes have been isolated and characterized by sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Some of the microbes have also been recommended as feed additives for improving the overall growth or production of animals. Rumen bacteria which ha...