A note on the optimum level of roughage inclusion in the diet of the early-weaned calf

ABSTRACT Forty purchased male Hereford ♂ × Friesian ♀ calves (about 14 days old) were offered concentrate diets containing 0, 170, 230 or 320 g chopped (20 mm) straw per kg. Food intake and live-weight gains of calves were increased by the inclusion of straw, but the 320 g straw treatment tended to depress intake and gain. The optimum concentration of fibre for maximizing live-weight gains was 150 g trichloracetic acid fibre per kg of diet (220 g chopped straw per kg).