Abstract #M307

# M307
Frequency of diet delivery to dairy cows: Effect on enteric methane emissions.
Chirine Cherif*1,2, Fadi Hassanat1, Rachel Gervais2, Chaouki Benchaar1, 1Sherbrooke Research and Development Center-Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, 2Département des Sciences Animales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of frequency of diet delivery to dairy cows on enteric CH4 emissions. Twelve lactating multiparous Holstein cows (DIM = 85 ± 23.7; milk yield = 50 ± 3.7 kg) were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design (35-d period; 14-d adaptation). Cows were offered (ad libitum, 5% orts; on an as-fed basis) a TMR (56:44, forage:concentrate ratio) once/d (0930 h), twice/d (0930 and 2130 h), or 4 times/d (0930, 1300, 1630, and 2130 h). Production of CH4 was determined (5 consecutive days) using respiration chambers, while DMI, milk performance, and nutrient apparent-total-tract digestibility were determined over 7 consecutive days. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS and significance was declared at P ≤ 0.05 using the Tukey test for multiple comparisons. Frequency of diet delivery had no effect on DMI (26 kg/d), ECM yield (46 kg/d), and DM apparent-total-tract digestibility (71%). Daily enteric CH4 emission averaged 534 g/d and was not affected by diet delivery frequency. However, CH4 emission expressed on DMI basis or as a proportion of gross energy intake (GEI) was lower (P = 0.01) when diet was offered once/d (19.3 g/kg, 5.75%; respectively) compared with twice/d (20.3 g/kg, 6.06%; respectively) and 4 times/d (20.4 g/kg, 6.06%; respectively). Methane emission expressed on ECM yield basis averaged 11.7 g/kg and was not affected by diet delivery frequency. Results of this study show that increasing frequency of diet delivery increases enteric CH4 losses (g/kg DMI; % GEI) without affecting DMI and milk production.

Key Words: frequency of diet delivery, methane, dairy cow