Table 2.

Mean chemical composition and SD of diet fed throughout the experiment.

Item	Period1			SD2
	1	2	3
DM, %	47.1	47.9	47.1	0.57
CP, % of DM	18.0	17.6	18.3	0.27
ADF, % of DM	22.7	24.4	23.2	1.05
NDF, % of DM	35.6	37.3	36.3	1.71
Lignin, % of DM	4.53	4.00	3.80	0.29
NFC, % of DM	33.4	32.6	33.2	1.71
Starch, % of DM	22.3	21.4	23.6	1.73
Crude fat, % of DM	5.23	4.70	4.57	0.19
Ash, % of DM	7.79	7.77	7.59	0.25
TDN, % of DM	70.0	69.0	70.0	0.77
NEL, Mcal/kg of DM3	1.63	1.63	1.65	0.03
Ca, % of DM	0.98	1.07	1.02	0.10
P, % of DM	0.44	0.45	0.45	0.01
Mg, % of DM	0.28	0.29	0.31	0.01
K, % of DM	1.51	1.55	1.41	0.05
Na, % of DM	0.30	0.38	0.32	0.01
S, % of DM	0.24	0.25	0.27	0.01
Fe, ppm	493	955	480	231
Zn, ppm	156	210	191	18.3
Cu, ppm	27.0	38.0	33.3	3.01
Mn, ppm	120	138	133	5.39
Mo, ppm	0.83	0.87	0.77	0.10

¹Period 1: from 21 days before calving until parturition; period 2: a fresh cow diet from 0 to 30 DIM; and period 3: a high cow diet from 31 to 72 DIM.

²Maximum value within periods.

³NRC, 2001.