Evaluating the Addition of Water to a Barley-Based Finishing Diet on Feed Sorting Behaviour, Digestibility, Steer Performance, and Carcass Characteristics
| dc.contributor.advisor | Penner, Greg | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Ribeiro, Gabriel | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Lopez-Campos, Oscar | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Brook, Ryan | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Beauchemin, Karen | |
| dc.creator | Seidle, Catherine Marie | |
| dc.creator.orcid | 0009-0003-5085-0935 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-01-07T15:31:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-01-07T15:31:22Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2024 | |
| dc.date.created | 2025-01 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-01-07 | |
| dc.date.submitted | January 2025 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2025-01-07T15:31:23Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | The objectives of the studies within this thesis were to evaluate the effects of adding water to a dry-rolled barley grain-based finishing diet on dry matter intake (DMI) and feed sorting behaviour. In Chapter 3, 8 ruminally cannulated beef steers (341.5 ± 25.1 kg starting body weight (BW)) were used in a study designed as a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square, with 21-d periods consisting of 16 d for diet adaptation and 5 d for data and sample collection. Chapter 4 utilized 120 beef steers (331.0 ± 31.0 kg starting BW) that were stratified by BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 20 pens (6 steers/pen, 5 pens/treatment) in a finishing growth performance study lasting 150 to 181 d. Dietary treatments for both studies included water at 0% (CON), 10% (10W), 20% (20W), and 30% (30W) relative to the barley grain weight. Both studies used barley-based finishing diets consisting of (dry matter (DM) basis) barley grain (88%), barley silage (7.7% in Chapter 3, 9.6% in Chapter 4), mineral and vitamin premix (4.1% in Chapter 3, 2.4% in Chapter 4), and titanium dioxide (0.2% in Chapter 3 only). The major difference between experiments was that Chapter 3 utilized aggressively processed barley grain with a processing index (PI) of 62.2 ±2.1% and 3.2 ±1.0% percent fines, whereas the barley grain in Chapter 4 had a PI of 84.2 ± 3.4% and 2.1 ± 1.0% percent fines. In Chapter 3, increasing water inclusion linearly increased DMI and water intake (P < 0.01 and P = 0.04, respectively). As water inclusion increased, the sorting index for the pan approached 100% (P < 0.01) indicating that steers consumed more fine particles. The increase in DMI and fine particle consumption led to linear decreases for mean (P < 0.01) and maximum ruminal pH (P = 0.02), and linear increases for the duration that ruminal pH was <5.5 (P = 0.02) and the ruminal lipopolysaccharide concentration (P < 0.01). In Chapter 4, DMI, average daily gain, and the gain:feed ratio were not affected by water inclusion (P ≥ 0.46). Sorting index values for particles retained on the 19-, 4-, and 1.18-sieves, and the pan were quadratically affected by the addition of water (P ≤ 0.02) such that the magnitude of the sorting decreased (values moved towards 100%) at a decreasing rate as water inclusion increased. Carcass characteristics (hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, dressing percentage, and ribeye area) did not differ among treatments (P ≥ 0.15). However, increasing water linearly reduced variability within a pen for marbling scores (P = 0.05). Collectively, these results are interpreted to suggest that adding water to a barley-based finishing diet may be an effective strategy to reduce feed sorting behaviour without altering digestibility, thereby reducing the variance for carcass marbling scores. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/16399 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject | cattle | |
| dc.subject | beef | |
| dc.subject | barley grain | |
| dc.subject | sorting behaviour | |
| dc.subject | feedlot diet | |
| dc.subject | metabolism | |
| dc.subject | feedlot | |
| dc.subject | carcass characteristics | |
| dc.title | Evaluating the Addition of Water to a Barley-Based Finishing Diet on Feed Sorting Behaviour, Digestibility, Steer Performance, and Carcass Characteristics | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | Animal and Poultry Science | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Animal Science | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science (M.Sc.) |