Energy requirement for

maintenance, growth, pregnancy,

and lactation in ruminants

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy.P

TVM/2015-029
Department of Animal nutrition
College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati
Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University
Feed energy systems

• Total digestible nutrients (TDN)

• Traditional system to express digestible energy concentration of
feedstuffs
• Basis of TDN are physiological fuel values

• Equivalence in energy units

1 lb TDN = 2000 kcal Digestible Energy
1 kg TDN = 4400 kcal Digestible Energy
Limitations of TDN
Limitations with digestion trials
Errors in chemical analyses
Errors in digestibility trials
Low feed intake increases digestibility
DMI at 3x maintenance reduces TDN by 8%
Underestimates or does not include all energy losses in metabolism
• Underestimates energy loss in urine (5%)
• Does not include methane gas
3 – 10% of feed energy
• Does not include:
Work of digestion
Heat of fermentation
Heat of nutrient metabolism
Overestimates the usable energy value of feeds
• Particularly of forages
Caloric system
Energy units
• Calorie (cal)
Amount of heat required to increase the temperature of 1 gm of
water from 14.5 to 15.5oC
• Kilocalorie (kcal) = 1000 cal
• Megacalorie (Mcal) = 1000 kcal = 1,000,000 cal

• Caloric system subtracts digestion and metabolic losses from the total
energy of a feedstuff
Caloric system
Gross Energy

Fecal Losses Digestible Energy

Urine Losses Gaseous Losses Metabolizable Energy

Heat Increment Losses Net Energy

Work of Heat of Heat of Maintenance Retained Energy

Digestion Fermentation Nutrient
Metabolism

Lactation Stored Energy

Growth
Energy requirements
• Maintenance • Pregnancy
• % of total energy requirement • Growth
• 25 – 70% in dairy cattle
• Lactation
• 70% in beef cattle

• Components

• Basal metabolic rate

• Activity

• Body temperature regulation

For Cattle and Buffalo
Energy required for maintenance
• The quantity of energy required for maintenance is, by definition, that
which promotes energy equilibrium (zero energy balance).
• Energy requirements for maintenance can be calculated from various
feeding standards.
• This quantity can be estimated directly in fed, as opposed to fasted,
animals if the energy content of their food is known and their energy
balance can be measured in feeding trials.
• A similar approach can also be followed in feeding trials in which animals
are not kept in calorimeters.
• The energy requirements for maintenance of cattle published by
AFRC (1993) are based on fasting metabolism (F, MJ/day) and can be
predicted as follows:
𝐰 𝟎.𝟔𝟕
F= 0.53( )
𝟏.𝟎𝟖

• The fasting metabolism of bulls is considered to be 15 per cent higher

than that of steers and heifers of a similar weight.

• Activity allowance (A, MJ/day) of 0.0071 W and 0.0095 W is included

for growing cattle and dairy cattle, respectively.
• Thus, the NE requirement for maintenance (NEm ) of a 600 kg dairy
cow would be calculated as follows:

NEm = 0.53(600/1.08)0.67 + (0.0095 X 600)

= 42.3 MJ/day

• If the ME content of the cow’s diet was 11.0 MJ/kg DM, the efficiency
of ME utilisation for maintenance (km) would be 0.714 and the ME
requirement for maintenance (MEm ) would be calculated as follows:

MEm = 42.3/0.714 = 59.2 MJ/day

• In contrast to AFRC (1993), where maintenance requirements are derived
from calorimetric methods, the maintenance requirements of beef cattle
published by NRC (2000) are derived using the comparative slaughter
technique.

• The NEm requirement of beef cattle can be predicted from empty body
weight (EBW) as follows:

𝐍𝐄𝐦 = 0.322 EBW𝟎.𝟕𝟓 (Where EBW = W X 0.85)

• And in NRC (2001)

𝐍𝐄𝐦 = 0.335 W𝟎.𝟕𝟓

ICAR standards
• Maintenance energy requirements for indigenous animals vary
between 61 – 104 kcal ME/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 in dry cows and between 113 – 160
kcal ME/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 .

• ICAR (1998) adopted the value of energy requirement for maintenance

to be equivalent to 122 kcal ME/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 for both cattle and buffaloes.

• For lactating cow of Brown Swiss X Sahiwal it is 131 kcal ME/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 .

• For lactating Haryana cows it is 127 kcal ME/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 .

BW (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)
200 1.92 6.94
250 2.28 8.24
300 2.62 9.47
350 2.95 10.67
400 3.27 11.82
450 3.58 12.94
500 3.88 14.04
550 4.18 15.10
600 4.47 16.15
650 4.75 17.18
700 5.03 18.19
750 5.31 19.19
800 5.58 20.17
Maintenance modifiers
• Breed
– Implications
• Maintenance requirements of breeds with high milk potential are 20% higher than those with low
milk potential and maintenance requirements of Bos indicus breeds are 10% lower than

Bos Taurus
• Match cow breeds to feed resources

Maintenance
% of total annual
Breed Kcal ME/BW 0.75 Mcal/d
ME
Angus x 130 14 73
Hereford
Charolais x 129 15 73
Jersey x 145 14.2 71
Simmental x 160 17.9 75
• Sex
Increase NEm requirement by 15% for bulls

• Lactation
Maintenance requirement of lactating cows is 20% higher than dry cows

Implications

• Early weaning of beef cows reduces maintenance energy requirement

– Reduces feed use

– Stimulates reproduction
• Body condition effects
Reflects previous nutrition

𝐍𝐄𝐦 = 0.077𝐁𝐖 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 x (0.8 + ((CS-1) x 0.05)

Implications

• Can have compensatory gain in growing cattle or reduce feed

requirements of beef cows by restricting nutrition
• Temperature
• Adjustment
𝐍𝐄𝐦 = (0.0007 x (20-Temp) + 0.077) Mcal/𝐁𝐖 𝟎.𝟕𝟓
• Activity allowance (Beef)

Variation
• 10-20% increase in NEm req for good pasture
• 50% increase in NEm req on poor hilly pasture.
𝐍𝐄𝐦 = [(0.006 x DMI x (0.9 – TDN)) + (0.05T/(GF + 3))] x w/4.184
Where DMI is in kg/d
TDN is a decimal
T is terrain (1=flat, 1.5=undulating, 2=hilly)
GF is green forage available in metric ton/ha
• Activity allowance (Dairy)
Walking
• Adjustment = 0.00045 Mcal NEi /kg BW/horizontal km
Eating
• Adjustment = 0.0012 Mcal NEi /kg BW
• Assumes 60% of diet is pasture
Walking
• Adjustment = 0.006 Mcal NEi /kg BW
• Assumes a hilly pasture is one in which cattle move 200 m of vertical
distance/day
Energy required for pregnancy
• Very inefficient utilization of energy (14 to 16%)

• Increase energy requirement drastically during last trimester of gestation

• Calculations:
Beef
(0.03233 − 0.0000275t)t
𝐍𝐄𝐦 , kcal/d = 0.576 birth wt (0.4504 – 0.000766t)𝐞
Dairy
𝐍𝐄𝐥 , Mcal/d = [(0.00318 x t - 0.0352) x (birth wt/45)]/0.218
ICAR standards

• After six months of pregnancy, the growth of fetus increases

significantly.

• The fallowing equation is used to calculate the required energy based

on no of days of pregnancy:

ME (M cal/d) = [(0.00318 X D – 0.0352) X (CBW/45)]/0.14

D = days of pregnancy between 190 and 297

Pregnancy requirements of buffalo/day
Month of pregnancy DM (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)
6–7 1.0 0.8 2.76
7–8 1.2 0.9 3.21
8–9 1.4 1.0 3.66
9 - 10 1.5 1.1 4.11

Pregnancy requirements of cattle/day

Month of pregnancy DM (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)
6–7 0.85 0.64 2.30
7–8 0.99 0.74 2.67
8–9 1.13 0.84 3.05
Feeding calf
B.Wt. (kg) Age (days) Colostrum Milk (kg)
UP to 30 0–4 1//10 th BW -
UP to 30 5 – 30 - 1/10 th BW
31- 60 - - 1/20 th BW

Age (days) BW (kg) ADG (kg) TDN (g) ME (Mcal)

0 – 15 25 200 400 1.5
16 – 30 30 300 500 1.7
30 – 60 40 300 800 2.4
60 - 90 50 350 1000 3.6
Energy required for lactation
• Energy requirements for lactation involve an estimate of the gross energy value
(EVl ) of the milk, which may be used along with the yield to estimate the net
energy requirement for milk production.
• Determination of the gross energy of milk involves either bomb calorimetry or a
detailed chemical analysis; the amounts of fat, lactose and protein are then
multiplied by their energy values and the products summed.
• The following equation based on the fat content of the milk can be used to
calculate the energy content:
𝐄𝐕𝐥 (MJ/kg) = 1.509 + 0.0406F
F is fat content (g/kg).
• More accurate assessments may be obtained by including protein (P)
or protein and lactose (L) (both g/kg) in the prediction equation:

𝐄𝐕𝐥 (MJ/kg) = 0.0376F + 0.0209P + 0.948

𝐄𝐕𝐥 (MJ/kg) = 0.0384F + 0.0223P + 0.0199L - 0.108

𝐄𝐕𝐥 (Mcal/kg) = 0.0929F + 0.0547P + 0.192

• Equal efficiency to maintenance

𝐍𝐄𝐥 requirement for lactation, Mcal/day = kg milk/day x (0.0929 x %

milk fat) + (0.0547 x % milk protein/0.93) + (0.0395 x % lactose)

• Simply add to NEl needed for maintenance.

• In case of first lactation give additional 20% of maintenance energy and

10% in second lactation.
• Animal may loose it’s body weight on it’s peak milk yield.

• Energy from body tissue loss (5-point BCS scale)

Body condition score Mcal 𝐍𝐄𝐥 /kg BW loss

2 3.83

2.5 4.29

3 4.68

3.5 5.10

4 5.57
Energy requirements for milk production/kg in cattle

Fat % DM (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)

3 0.450 0.290 1.05

4 0.510 0.330 1.20

5 0.570 0.370 1.34

6 0.640 0.410 1.50

7 0.700 0.460 1.64

Energy requirements for milk production/kg in
buffalo
Fat % DM (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)

4 0.550 0.360 1.29

5 0.610 0.400 1.43

6 0.670 0.440 1.58

7 0.740 0.480 1.73

8 0.800 0.520 1.88

9 0.860 0.560 2.02

10 0.930 0.600 2.17

Energy required for Growth
• AFRC (1993) predicts that for cattle the energy content of the gain made by
castrate males of a medium-sized breed can be predicted as follows:

𝐄𝐕𝐠 = (4.1 + 0.0332W - 0.000009𝐖 𝟐 )(1 - 0.1475 LWG)

• where EVg = energy value of liveweight gain (MJ/kg),W = liveweight (kg) and LWG
= liveweight gain (kg/day).

• The first bracketed term in the equation describes the increasing energy content
of gain as cattle increase in size, and the second term describes the correction for
the increasing energy content of gain associated with higher liveweight gains.
• To account for the effects of breed and sex on EVg , a simple 15 per
cent correction factor has been adopted.

• Thus, for small breeds (early-maturing) and females the value

predicted is increased by 15 per cent, and for large breeds (late-
maturing) and males (bulls) the value is reduced by 15 per cent.
Energy requirements of working cattle/buffalo
(light work 4 hrs)
BW (kg) DM (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)
300 6.5 3.70 13.3
350 7.6 4.15 15.0
400 8.6 4.59 16.6
450 9.7 5.01 18.1
500 10.8 5.42 19.6
550 11.9 5.83 221.0
600 13.0 6.22 22.5
650 14.0 6.60 23.8
700 15.1 6.98 25.2
Energy requirements of working cattle/buffalo
(heavy work 8 hrs)
BW (kg) DM (kg) TDN (kg) ME (Mcal)
300 6.5 4.93 17.8
350 7.6 5.53 20.0
400 8.6 6.12 22.1
450 9.7 6.68 24.1
500 10.8 7.23 26.1
550 11.9 7.77 28.0
600 13.0 8.29 29.9
650 14.0 8.81 31.8
700 15.1 9.31 33.6
For Sheep
Maintenance
• New born lambs (1 – 3 days old) require 117 kcal ME/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓 .

• The maintenance requirement for growing sheep is 37.0g/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓

TDN.

• Kearl (1982) suggested 𝐌𝐄𝐦 = 92 kcal/𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓

• MEm requirements for grazing animal is higher than restricted animal.

• Estimates of the energy cost of walking 3.35 J (0.8 cal), 31.7 J (7.58
cal), 13.2 J (3.15 cal) / kg BW / m for horizontal, ascending and
descending movement respectively.
Energy requirement in sheep for maintenance
Body weight TDN (g) ME (M cal)
10 0.20 0.70
15 0.27 0.95
20 0.33 1.18
25 0.39 1.39
30 0.45 1.59
35 0.50 1.79
40 0.56 1.98
45 0.61 2.16
50 0.66 2.34
55 0.71 2.51
60 0.75 2.68
65 0.80 2.85
70 0.85 3.01
• As with cattle, the maintenance requirements of sheep published by
AFRC (1993) are based on fasting metabolism and an activity
allowance that varies between 0.0067 W for housed fattening lambs
and 0.024 W for ewes on hill grazing.

𝐍𝐄𝐦 = 0.23 (W/1.08)𝟎.𝟕𝟓 + 0.024 W

• The NEm requirement of a 50 kg hill ewe can be predicted as follows:

NEm = 0.23 (50/1.08)0.75 + 0.024 W

= 5.3 MJ/day
Growth
• New born lambs (1 – 3 days old) require 0.41 kcal ME/g gain in weight.

• The growth requirement for growing sheep between 7 – 15 kg is 0.91g of

TDN/g BW gain.

• The growth requirement for growing sheep between 15 – 30 kg is 1.21g of

TDN/g BW gain.

• An average daily gain 150g was achieved in pre-weaning lambs when feed
diet containing 8.22 MJ (1.96 Mcal)/ kg of feed.
• Crossbred lambs during post-weaning phase required dietary ME 10.4
MJ (2.49)/kg feed to have ADG 112 g.

• AFRC (1993) predicts that for sheep EVg can be predicted as follows:

Males: 𝐄𝐕𝐠 = 2.5 + 0.35W

Castrates: 𝐄𝐕𝐠 = 4.4 + 0.32W
Females: 𝐄𝐕𝐠 = 2.1 + 0.45W
Pregnancy and lactation

• During last trimester of pregnancy most of the energy is used by the

foetus.

• ICAR (1998) proposed ME requirements for pregnant sheep as 71 –

80 kcal ME/kg BW.

• The energy required for lactation depends on the amount and

composition of milk.
Energy pregnancy in sheep for maintenance
Body weight TDN (g) ME (M cal)
15 0.40 1.44
20 0.50 1.79
25 0.59 2.12
30 0.67 2.43
35 0.75 2.72
40 0.83 3.01
45 0.91 3.29
50 0.99 3.56
55 1.06 3.82
60 1.13 4.08
65 1.20 4.33
70 1.27 4.58
Energy lactation in sheep for maintenance
Body weight TDN (g) ME (M cal)
15 0.48 1.73
20 0.60 2.15
25 0.70 2.54
30 0.81 2.91
35 0.91 3.27
40 1.00 3.61
45 1.09 3.95
50 1.18 4.27
55 1.27 4.59
60 1.36 4.90
65 1.44 5.20
70 1.52 5.50
For Goats
Maintenance
• Mandal et al. (2005) reported maintenance requirements of TDN to be 30.1g/ 𝐤𝐠 𝟎.𝟕𝟓

• The maintenance requirements of energy is 125 kcal DE.

Growth
• The requirement for growth is 7.55 kcal/g gain.

• Mandal et al. reported that the TDN requirement for live weight gain was 1.61g/g gain.

• Rajpoot (1978) reported that energy values in terms of digestible, metabolisable, and net
energy values for growth 8.22, 6.71, and 3.78 kcal/g respectively.
Lactation

• Rajpoot (1978) reported that energy values in terms of digestible,

metabolisable, and net energy values for lactation and
maintenance/kg 0.75 as 191, 156, and 88 kcal, respectively.
 𝟎.𝟕𝟓
Energy requirements (per 𝐤𝐠 )

Requirement ( k cal )
Parameter
DE ME NE
Maintenance (adult non-producing) 125 102 58
Maintenance plus gain 234 191 108
Per g gain 8 7 4
Pregnancy 227 185 104
Maintenance 191 156 88
Maintenance plus lactation 313 256 144
Per kg of 4% FCM 1520 1240 700
THANK YOU

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy.P

TVM/2015-029