Effects of a wide range of dietary forage-to-concentrate ratios on nutrient utilization and hepatic transcriptional profiles in limit-fed Holstein heifers

Table 2 Effects of dietary forage levels on growth characteristics

Items^e	Forage levels (% of diet DM)				SEM^f	P-value
Items^e	20	40	60	80	SEM^f	Treatment	Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Initial BW, kg	262.5	263.8	263.7	262.3	6.096	0.96
Initial gut fill^g, kg	38.12	38.81	39.22	39.43	0.448	0.22
Final BW, kg	284.2	287.0	288.7	290.5	6.330	0.40	0.10	0.82	0.91
Final gut fill^g, kg	29.89^d	38.83^c	47.80^b	56.91^a	0.645	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.90	0.97
ADG^g, kg/d	1.07^a	0.83^b	0.59^c	0.38^c	0.051	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.72	0.88
FE^g	0.24^a	0.18^b	0.12^c	0.07^d	0.009	< 0.01	< 0.01	0.32	0.97

(n = 6)
^a–dMeans within a row with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05)
^eBW body weight, ADG average daily gain, FE feed efficiency; DM dry matter
^fSEM standard error of the mean
^gADG = (final BW − final gut fill) − (initial BW − initial gut fill); FE = ADG/DMI, calculated according to Williams et al. [22]

ISSN: 1471-2164