Five pregnant Swedish Red and White Breed cows
(average body weight=612F88 kg), during their
second (n =3) or third (n =2) lactation were used in a
15 week study in a 55 Latin square design. Each
period consisted of 16 days of adaptation followed by
5 days of collection of all faeces produced. The
selected cows had 5 to 6 months until their predicted
calving at the onset of the experiment and a daily milk
production of 23F4 kg. Cows were milked at 0600
and 1700 h. Cows were weighed weekly, water
consumption was recorded daily and salt consumption
was measured weekly. Cows were kept in individual
tie stalls during the experiment, with floors covered
with rubber mats and bedding, except during collection
periods when the bedding was withdrawn. The
apparent digestibility of P was calculated by subtracting
the amount of P in faeces from P intake and
dividing this by P intake. The P in urine was assumed
to be negligible and only spot samples were collected