Water consumption in heifers fed rice DDGS and wheat-groundnut straw mixture

Information from the abstract

This study evaluated the water intake patterns in growing heifers fed varying dietary treatments, including concentrates with 0%, 20% and 40% rice distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) (T1, T2, T3) and roughage consisting of wheat straw alone (R1) or a mixture of wheat and groundnut straw (R2).The water intake, relationships between water intake and dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW), roughage-to-concentrate (R: C) ratio and environmental temperature-humidity index (THI) were analyzed.Results showed that DDGS fed groups exhibited stable water intake and moderate to strong positive correlations with DMI (r = 0.17; 0.29) and BW (r = 0.19; 0.33), while correlations with R: C ratios were weak and inconsistent.In contrast, heifers in the R2 group, which received a mixture of wheat straw and groundnut straw, demonstrated higher and more variable water intake, attributed to incomplete rumen fill despite meeting ICAR (2013) nutrient standards, leading to additional straw intake.Across all groups, water intake generally increased with rising THI, indicating physiological adaptation to thermal stress.The findings suggest that DMI and BW are better predictors of water intake than R: C ratio and that fiber quality plays a critical role in hydration response under heat stress.

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Related topics: Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock · Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology · Food Drying and Modeling