Search

The daily forage intake of ruminants is made up of a series of meals. These meals are especially pronounced in animals fed in stalls and coincide with the distribution of food. A relatively simple model of ruminant digestion was developed and used to test equations designed to predict rate of forage intake during meals. An equation that had been published previously as a means of controlling daily dry matter intake was combined with a Michaelis equation to control intake rate as the integrated hunger signal from chemostatic and distension feedbacks varied. The termination of the meal was based on experimental observation and the status of the model was examined for indications of the satiety mechanism at the end of the meal. The predicted level of hunger at the end of the meal varied. It is proposed that the end of the meal is triggered by an integrated hunger and palatability signal and two simple products are suggested by the data; however, the problem is likely to require a more complex function.