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Sucrose Preference and Novelty-Induced Hypophagia Tests in Rats using an Automated Food Intake Monitoring System

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Physiological basis for residual feed intake.

R M Herd¹, P F Arthur

¹New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Beef Industry Centre, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia. robert.herd@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Journal of Animal Science

|November 26, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Residual feed intake (RFI) in beef cattle is influenced by physiological factors like metabolism and activity. Understanding these mechanisms is key to improving feed efficiency and identifying genetically superior animals.

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Area of Science:

Animal Science
Genetics
Nutritional Physiology

Background:

Residual feed intake (RFI) is a crucial trait for feed efficiency in livestock, independent of production levels.
Variation in RFI is linked to fundamental physiological processes including feed intake, digestion, metabolism, activity, and thermoregulation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the physiological mechanisms contributing to variation in residual feed intake (RFI) in beef cattle.
To identify key physiological processes and their relative contributions to RFI variation.

Main Methods:

Analysis of studies on Angus steers divergently selected for RFI.
Estimation of the proportion of RFI variation explained by metabolic processes, body composition, and physical activity.

Main Results:

Metabolic processes, body composition, and physical activity collectively explained 73% of RFI variation in Angus steers.
Specific contributions included protein turnover, tissue metabolism, and stress (37%), digestibility (10%), heat increment and fermentation (9%), physical activity (9%), and body composition (5%).

Conclusions:

Physiological factors, particularly metabolism and activity, are major drivers of residual feed intake variation.
Further research integrating physiological and genomic data is needed to develop commercial tests for superior feed efficiency in cattle.