Effects of Particle Size of Alfalfa Hay on Eating and Ruminating Activity,Dietary Nutrients Digestibility of Chinese Holstein Heifer

Three Chinese Holstein Heifers,with 8-10 month old and weighing(300±22) kg,were selected for a 3×3 Latin square design to study the effects of chopped length of alfalfa hay(2 cm,4 cm,and natural whole length) on eating and ruminating activity,dietary nutrients digestibility.The results showed that increasing the chopped length of alfalfa hay increased eating bout,time spent for eating the hay and ration,ruminating and total chewing activity of ration(P 0.05).The ratio of eating time to ruminating time and nutrients digestibility were unaffected by the treatments(P 0.05).The experiment suggested that forages in heifer’ ration should be shopped properly.