Effect of age of cattle on digestion of whole wheat or oats fed with clover hay

Abstract

The digestibility of diets containing two-thirds oat or wheat grain and one-third hay was determined with steers either 6 or 24 months of age. The six steers of each age group were offered their daily diet in amounts equal to 1.5 per cent of liveweight; the weight of whole grain in the faeces and the digestibility of grain were measured. There was no significant difference in grain digestibility between calves and adult steers. For both age groups oats was more digestible than wheat (72 vs. 58, P < 0.05), due largely to the lower proportion of whole grain in the faeces (13 vs. 31, P < 0.05). The chemical composition of the voided grain was similar to that of the grain as fed. It was concluded that processing to improve digestibility of grains is of equal importance whether the grain is fed to calves or steers.