The Oscillatory Character of the Variations in the Weights of Dairy Heifers

Studies in animal growth are often complicated by wide and rapid daily variations in body weight. Although the investigator is primarily interested in the organized body tissues there are, in addition, water and food recently consumed, partially digested food and waste materials which are responsible for most of the large and rapid changes in total weight of the body. These may mask to a considerable degree the true changes in the organized body tissues. An understanding of the nature of these variations should be of considerable value in properly evaluating results of investigations in the growth of dairy heifers.