Factors Influencing the Feed Intake and Live-Weight Change of Beef Cattle on a Mixed Tree Savanna in the Transvaal

Abstract

This study was conducted as part of a broad ecosystem project to identify and quantify some of the significant relationships between cattle and their environment. Over a period of 1 year, monthly measurements were made of Africander cattle ranging on mixed tree savanna in the Transvaal, Republic of South Africa. The following data were obtained: feed intake, liveweight change, crude protein content (CP) and digestibility of the diet, as well as the time which was spent feeding and mean bite size. Both CP and digestibility of diets influenced the liveweight change of the cattle, but only digestibility influenced their feed intake. Their daily feeding time was short enough and their mean bite size was large enough to suggest that the accessibility and distribution of preferred plant species within the savanna did not directly limit their feed intake. Nutritional requirements of the cattle could be estimated from relationships between some of the factors, the most accurate relationship being that between digestible CP intake and liveweight change of the cattle.