Contrasts of esophageal-fistula versus bite-count techniques to determine cattle diets.

Abstract

To understand how different techniques might affect diet estimates for cattle, the esophageal-fistula and bite-count techniques were compared using trained cattle. For the Texas Coastal Bend, bite-count was not as reliable a technique as the esophageal fistula. These techniques differed in estimation of forage classes and plant species in cattle diets. The esophageal-fistula technique was more accurate however, the bite-count technique may be acceptable if analyses are limited to only those plant species making up >2% of the diet.