A comparison of two-cut and three-cut systems of silage making for beef cattle using two cultivars of perennial ryegrass

1984 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Friesian Cattle

ABSTRACTTwo randomized-block experiments have been carried out to examine the effects of increasing the digestibility of grass silage offered to beef cattle by harvesting three crops of grass after shorter growth intervals rather than two crops after longer growth intervals. In experiment 1 early-cut silages were harvested on 1 June, 16 July and 24 August, and late-cut silages on 20 June and 22 August 1979. In experiment 2 the early-cut silages were harvested on 19 May, 2 July and 20 August, and the late-cut silages on 5 June and 12 August 1980. Early- and late-cut silages were made from each of two cultivars of perennial ryegrass (cultivars Cropper and Talbot). The silages were unwilted and had formic acid applied at 2.5 1/t fresh crop.In experiment 1 the silages were offered ad libitum, both unsupplemented and supplemented with 2·2 kg concentrates per head daily, to 88 cattle of mixed beef breeds and mean initial live weight 337 kg, in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. In experiment 2 the silages were offered ad libitum and supplemented with 2·4 kg of concentrates per head daily to 56 Charolais × (Aberdeen Angus × Friesian) cattle of mean initial live weight 351 kg, in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Grass cultivar did not significantly affect silage intake or animal performance but intake, live-weight gain and carcass gain were significantly higher for the early-cut than for the late-cut silages in both experiments. In experiment 1 silage dry-matter intakes were 6·33, 5·12, 5·80 and 4·67 (s.e. 0·124) kg/day; live-weight gains were 0·72, 0·89, 0·47 and 0·76 (s.e. 0·029) kg/day; and carcass gains were 0·46, 0·60, 0·27 and 0·48 (s.e. 0·016) kg/day, for the unsupplemented and supplemented early-cut silages, and the unsupplemented and supplemented late-cut silages, respectively. In experiment 2 silage dry-matter intakes were 5·49 and 4·95 (s.e. 0·056) kg/day; live-weight gains Were 0·95 and 0·76 (s.e. 0·033) kg/day; and carcass gains were 0·67 and 0·50 (s.e. 0·17) kg/day, for the early- and late-cut silages, respectively.

Effect of animal size on the response in the performance of beef cattle to an improvement in silage quality

1982 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen ◽  
W. A. McIlmoyle
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Silage Quality ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Animal Size

ABSTRACTTwo experiments have been carried out to examine the interaction between animal size and the response in animal performance to an increase in the digestibility of grass silage. In experiment 1, grass silages harvested during July and August after regrowth intervals of 43 and 85 days were offered ad libitum both unsupplemented and supplemented with 2 kg of concentrates per head per day to British Friesian steers of (±s.e.) 170±1·9, 300±2·9 and 420±3·6 kg initial live weight. Earlier cutting did not affect silage dry-matter intake or live-weight gain but increased carcass gain by 0·12kg/day (P<0·01).In experiment 2, early-cut grass silage, made from two regrowths of perennial ryegrass, which were harvested during July and August after regrowth intervals of 43 and 48 days, and late-cut silage, made from a single regrowth, which was harvested in August after a regrowth interval of 90 days, were offered ad libitum to 84 Hereford-cross steers of (±s.e.) 170±3·4, 300±4·4 and 420±5|·2kg initial live weight. Earlier cutting increased silage dry-matter intake by 340 g/kg, live-weight gain by 0·23 kg/day and carcass gain by 0·18 kg/day (P<0·001). It i s concluded that increasing the digestibility of grass silage by cutting grass at an earlier stage of growth is likely to produce a substantial increase in the daily carcass gain of beef cattle and that the response to higher digestibility is as great with mature cattle as with young, growing animals.

Effects of supplementing maize and grass silages with barley, and maize silage with urea or ammonia, on the intake and performance of fattening bulls

1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
J. C. Tayler
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Carcass Quality ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Ad Libitum

ABSTRACT1. Experiment 1. Six treatment groups of one British Friesian and four South Devon × British Friesian bulls, initially 432 kg mean live weight and aged 491 days, were offered individually maize or grass silage ad libitum plus 0, 5 or 10g barley dry matter per kg live weight daily for 80 days. The silages had similar digestible dry matter and estimated metabolizable energy contents but the grass silage contained more ammonia and acetic, propionic and butyric acids. Mean values for groups receiving respectively maize and grass silage diets were for dry-matter intake 17·7, 20·3, 20·4 and 13·0, 16·6, 18·7 g/kg live weight and for live-weight gain 1·00, 1·32, 1·46 and 0·65, 0·98, 1·22kg/day. Significantly more maize than grass silage dry matter was eaten when the silages were given alone and dry-matter intakes, live-weight and carcass gains were greater for maize silage diets. Dry-matter intake, live-weight and carcass gains, efficiency of feed use and carcass quality significantly improved when barley was given.2. Experiment 2. Six groups of five British Friesian bulls, initially 418 kg mean live weight and aged 474 days, were offered individually maize silage ad libitum with either urea or one of two quantities of aqueous ammonia mixed in at the time of feeding, plus 0 or 5 g barley dry matter per kg live weight daily for 90 days. The urea and ammonia-treated silages contained 125, 124 and 148 g crude protein per kg dry matter respectively, with pH values of 3·8, 3·9 and 4·3, and when given alone or with barley mean daily intakes (g dry matter per kg live weight) were 17·1, 18·6 for urea-treated silage diets, and 17·8, 18·8 and 16·9, 19·1 respectively for ammoniatreated silage diets. Live-weight gains were 0·69, 0·94, 0·63, 1·09, 0·64 and 1·07 kg/day. Ammonia treatment had no effect on intake or live-weight gain. Live-weight and carcass gains and carcass quality improved when barley was given.3. The maize silage offered in Experiment 1 contained similar metabolizable energy but more starch than that in Experiment 2 and was used more efficiently for live-weight gain.

Effect of winter environment on growth of young beef cattle 1. Effects of exposure during winter to rain or wind and rain combined on performance of 9-month-old Friesian steers fed on two planes of nutrition

1972 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. McCarrick ◽  
M. J. Drennan
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Weight Changes ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Weight Gains

SUMMARYThree experiments were conducted to compare the performance of 9-month-old Friesian steers wintered in three environments, (a) conventional cattle houses, (b) wind-sheltered roofless sawdust pads and (c) unsheltered roofless sawdust pads. Within each environment animals were fed on two planes of nutrition.In each experiment, winter live-weight gains of animals accommodated on the three winter environments were similar as were weight changes during the subsequent four weeks at grass in Experiments 2 and 3.No interaction on live-weight gain was found between plane of nutrition and winter environment. Health of outwintered animals was good throughout. The response to feeding barley with hay in these experiments (obtained by comparing low-plane with high-plane treatment groups) showed that on average 5·5 kg of barley dry matter were required to produce 1 kg of additional live-weight gain above that obtained from hay fed alone.

Beef production from silage 3. The effect of supplements of hay and dried grass on the performance of beef cattle

1983 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Thomas ◽  
R. M. Tetlow ◽  
B. G. Gibbs ◽  
Margaret Gill
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Ad Libitum

ABSTRACT1. The primary growth of perennial ryegrass was cut between 7 and 9 June and ensiled with formic acid at 2·5 1/t. The regrowth was cut on 24 July; part was dried at high temperature (dried grass), the remainder was left to dry in the field (hay). The dried grass (DG) and part of the hay were ground and pelleted, the hay being pelleted alone (PH) or with the addition of formaldehyde at 20 g/kg crude protein (PHF). The remainder of the hay was offered in the chopped form (CH). The four supplements (CH, PH, PHF, DG) were offered at two levels, 6·5 (L) and 130 (H) g dry matter per kg live weight to 54 British Friesian steers (initial live weight, 110 kg) receiving the silage ad libitum.2. The silage had a high pH and a high proportion of the total nitrogen was in the form of ammonia, indicating poor fermentation. The solubility of nitrogen in the supplements was highest (262 g/kg total nitrogen) in CH, progressively less in PH and PHF and lowest (122 g/kg total nitrogen) in DG.3. Total dry-matter intake was highest with DG at the higher level of inclusion. Dry-matter intake was significantly higher for PH and PHF than for CH (P < 0·001). However, intake of digestible energy did not differ between hays. Live-weight gain was increased from a low level of 0·24 kg/day (silage alone) by all supplements, but this effect was greater with DG than with the hays (P < 0·001). Level of supplementation increased live-weight gain from 0·54 to 0·74 kg/day.4. Supplements of dried grass gave higher live-weight gains than did hay made from the same sward. However, the results indicate that supplementation of badly preserved silage with grass hay of good quality can produce acceptable levels of performance of up to 0·70 kg/day in 4-month-old steers. Processing of the hay had little effect on animal performance.

Effect of breed, sex, type of cereal and supplementary hay upon the performance of beef cattle given high-concentrate diets

1967 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Owen ◽  
G. M. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Vitamin Supplement ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Sex Type ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Friesian Cattle

1. In a 2×3×3 factorial experiment a total of seventy-two female or castrated pure Friesian, Charolais × Friesian and Welsh Black × Friesian cattle were fed individually and ad libitum on three diets from 200 lb to slaughter at 800 or 900 lb, depending on sex. The diets were ground barley (87%) and protein-mineral-vitamin supplement (13%) given with or without 1 lb of hay per animal daily, or ground maize (87%) and supplement (13%) given with 1 lb of hay daily.2. The three breed-types differed significantly in growth rate and feed conversion efficiency. Gaining at 2·66 lb/day and converting 4·56 lb of meal into 1 lb live-weight gain, the Charolais crosses grew 7·7 % faster than pure Friesians and consumed 14·1% less meal per unit gain. Welsh Black crosses made 9·3% less rapid gains and required 7·7 % more meal per unit gain than pure Friesians. The disparity between the three breedtypes increased with increasing liveweight.

scholarly journals Feed Intake and Live Weight Gain of Hereford Bulls Offered Diets Based on Whole-Crop Barley and Whole-Crop Wheat Silages Relative to Moderately Digestible Grass Silage with or without Protein Supplementation

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1123-1134
Author(s):  
Arto Huuskonen ◽  
Maiju Pesonen ◽  
Erkki Joki-Tokola
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Rapeseed Meal ◽  
Protein Supplementation ◽  
Concentrate Supplementation ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Ad Libitum

AbstractThe present experiment was conducted to study the performance of Hereford bulls offered diets based on whole-crop barley (WCB) and whole-crop wheat (WCW) silages relative to a moderately digestible grass silage (GS)-based diet with or without rapeseed meal (RSM) supplementation. The experiment comprised 30 bulls and a 3×2 factorial design was used. The bulls were offered silages ad libitum. In all forage diets (WCB, WCW, GS) the concentrate used was either rolled barley alone or rolled barley plus RSM. The amount of the concentrate supplementation was 37 g/metabolic live weight/animal/day for all treatments. The crude protein (CP) content of barley was 126 g/kg dry matter (DM) and the CP content of the concentrate increased 23% with RSM supplementation. Average live weight gains (LWG) for the GS, WCB and WCW feedings were 1411, 1331 and 1181 g/d, respectively. Differences in diet digestibility and energy intake probably explain the differences in LWG among the forage types. RSM supplementation increased both silage and total DM intake in the WCB and WCW feedings but not in the GS feeding. Furthermore, RSM supplementation increased LWG 7 and 17% in the WCB and WCW feedings, respectively, but only 2% in the GS feeding.

The effect of supplementing grass silage with molasses and/or a mineralised fishmeal on performance and carcass characteristics of finishing beef cattle

1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 122-122
Author(s):  
D. G. Chapple ◽  
H. F. Grundy ◽  
K. P. A. Wheeler ◽  
S. P. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Carcass Characteristics ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Cane Molasses ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Finishing Beef Cattle

In forage-based intensive beef production systems supplementary feedingstuffs are generally required to optimise live-weight gain and to ensure adequate finish. Information on the feeding of molasses alone or molasses in conjunction with supplementary protein, in grass silage-based beef cattle diets is limited.To evaluate the effect of replacing barley with molasses and/or mineralised fishmeal when fed with ad libitum grass silage to finishing beef cattle.Daily supplements of 2.0 kg of rolled barley + 50 g minerals (B), 0.5 kg mineralised fishmeal (F), 2.0 kg cane molasses + 0.5 kg mineralised fishmeal (MF) or 2.5 kg cane molasses + 50 g minerals (M).

The effect of avoparcin and monensin on the performance of growing and finishing cattle offered grass silage-based diets

1985 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. F. Unsworth ◽  
I. I. McCullough ◽  
T. A. McCullough ◽  
D. G. O'Neill ◽  
R. W. J. Steen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Rumen Fluid ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Finishing Cattle ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Additive Treatment

ABSTRACTThe effect on animal performance of the inclusion in the diet of avoparcin at one or more of the following levels 0, 150, 300 and 450 mg per head daily and 200 mg per head daily monensin was studied i n a series of four trials. Finishing cattle of 428 (s.e. 3·9) kg live weight were used in three trials and yearling heifers (218 (s.e. 4·9) kg live weight) in the fourth. All animals received grass silage ad libitum with 0·5 to 6·0 kg per head daily of a cereal-based supplement. Relative to the control diets with no additive, proportionate increases in live-weight gain of between 0·07 and 0·38 were obtained with the inclusion of avoparcin at 150 mg per head daily in the diet with a small depression in silage dry-matter intake. The effects at higher levels of inclusion of avoparcin and of monensin were more variable. Alteration in the proportion of propionate to acetate in the rumen fluid of the animals was observed only at the highest levels of additive inclusion. There was no effect of additive treatment on carcass weight or dressing proportion.

A note on red clover silage for cattle finishing

1978 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Day ◽  
R. D. Harkess ◽  
D. M. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Animal Performance ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Ad Libitum

ABSTRACTTrials were carried out over two winters to compare red clover and grass silage for cattle finishing.The silages were mixed to give rations containing 0,25,50,75 or 100% red clover dry-matter and were offered ad libitum to individually fed British Friesian-type steers. Significant differences in dry-matter intake occurred but the effect of silage type on animal performance was not significant. Barley supplementation had a significant effect on both total dry-matter intake and daily live-weight gain.

An evaluation of red clover silage for beef production

1982 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen ◽  
W. A. McIlmoyle
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Formic Acid ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Ad Libitum

ABSTRACTTwo experiments have been conducted to compare wilted, formic acid-treated red clover and unwilted, formic acid-treated grass silages for beef production, and to examine the effects of digestibility of red clover and level of concentrate supplementation on food intake and animal performance.In experiment 1, 12 groups of four British Friesian steers (initial live weight 229 kg) were given red clover silages of high and low dry-matter digestibility (0·70 and 0·60 respectively) and grass silage (0·71) ad libitum for a period of 11 weeks. Silage dry-matter intake and live-weight gain for the steers given red clover of high digestibility, red clover of low digestibility and grass silages were 7·75, 0·89; 6·91, 0·69; and 5·59, 0·59 kg/day respectively.In experiment 2, 12 groups of four British Friesian steers (initial live weight 332 kg) were given red clover silage with a dry-matter digestibility of 0·63 and grass silage with a value of 0·76 ad libitum, either unsupplemented or supplemented, with 2 kg/day of fortified barley per head for a period of 19 weeks. Silage dry-matter intake, live-weight gain and carcass gain were 8·52, 0·63, 0·32 and 6·98, 0·78, 0·43 kg/day for the unsupplemented and supplemented red clover silage treatments, and 6·82, 0·59, 0·31 and 5·75, 0·75, 0·44 kg/day for the unsupplemented and supplemented grass silage treatments respectively. The performance of the cattle offered red clover silage was similar to that of cattle offered grass silage of 0·12 higher digestibility, largely as the result of higher dry matter intakes achieved on red clover silage.

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