Legume silages as supplements to a maize silage plus urea diet for young calves

1980 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-364
Author(s):  
D. M. Bowden ◽  
D. F. Osbourn ◽  
Margaret Gill ◽  
B. G. Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Fish Meal ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Basal Diet ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Acid Diet ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter

ABSTRACTForty British Friesian calves aged approximately 90 days, mean initial live weight 107 kg, were divided into five groups and the animals in each group offered, ad libitum for 84 days, one of five diets based on maize silage. The basal diet of maize silage and 20 g urea/kg dry matter (diet 1) was supplemented with fish meal at 47 g/kg dry matter (diet 2) or with legume silage supplements at 310 g silage dry matter/kg dry matter. The silage supplements were red clover ensiled with formic acid (diet 3), red clover ensiled with formic acid plus formaldehyde at 30 g/kg crude protein (diet 4), or sainfoin ensiled with formic acid (diet 5). Diets 1 to 5 contained 23·7, 28·8, 28·3, 28·3, and 27·1 g total nitrogen/kg dry matter respectively.The proportion of the total nitrogen insoluble in water, an indicator of the protein in the diet that was likely to escape degradation in the rumen, was 273, 356, 377, 413 and 339 g/kg for diets 1 to 5 respectively. Increasing the proportion of insoluble nitrogen in the diet by including fish meal or formaldehyde-treated red clover silage improved rates of live-weight gain and efficiency of feed conversion. Mean daily intakes of 15·2, 16·2, 16·2, 15·4 and 15·8 g digestible organic matter/kg live weight produced daily live-weight gains of 0·79, 1·05, 0·88, 0·93 and 0·83 kg/head by calves on diets 1 to 5 respectively. Diet 2 produced live-weight gains and gains per kg of digestible organic matter intake that were greater than those for diets 1, 3 or 5 (P<0·05), but not significantly greater than those for diet 4 (P<0·05). Calf live-weight gains were similar and satisfactory on the basal diet (maize silage and urea) and the diets with formic acid-preserved silage of red clover or sainfoin, but poorer than on the diet with 47 g fish meal/kg diet dry matter (P<0·05).

Beef production from silage 1. The voluntary intake and live-weight gain of beef cattle given red clover silage

1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Thomas ◽  
K. Aston ◽  
B. G. Gibbs ◽  
J. C. Tayler
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Fish Meal ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Ammonia Nitrogen ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Voluntary Intake ◽  
Degradable Protein

ABSTRACT1. The primary growth of a tetraploid red clover was cut from 17 to 19 June and ensiled with formic acid at 3·81/t fresh crop (F), equal volumes of formic acid and formalin at 9 11/t (67 g formaldehyde per kg crude protein) (FF) or wilted and ensiled without additive (W). The silages were given ad libitum either alone or with supplements of dried grass or barley/fish meal at 6·7 g dry matter per kg live weight to 45 British Friesian male castrates, initially 3 months old and 104 kg live-weight.2. The use of formaldehyde reduced the concentration of fermentation acids and of ammonia-nitrogen in the silage. Wilting the crop increased silage dry-matter content by 74g/kg fresh weight but this silage had the highest concentration of fermentation acids and of ammonia-nitrogen.3. Digestibilities of diets containing silage FF were lower than those of diets containing silages F and W except when silage FF was supplemented with dried grass (interaction P <0·05).4. The intake of silage W was on average higher than that of silages F and FF (P < 0·001). Supplements of barley/fish meal and dried grass depressed silage intake to a similar extent (P <0001). When silages were given as the sole feed, calves consuming silage F had higher live-weight gains than calves given silages FF and W (P <001). This effect was not apparent when silages were supplemented with barley/fish meal, but with a supplement of dried grass the calves given silage FF grew more slowly than those given silages F and W.5. The results are discussed in relation to the possible effect of treatments on the supply of rumen-degradable protein and of amino acids to the animal.

The influence of formaldehyde application at ensiling and of supplementation with urea or maize starch on the utilization by calves of ryegrass and red clover silages

1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Kaiser ◽  
D. F. Osbourn ◽  
P. England
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Formic Acid ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Retention ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Formaldehyde Treatment

ABSTRACTPrimary growths of perennial ryegrass and red clover were ensiled with formic acid (2 1/t fresh crop), o an equal quantity of formic acid together with formaldehyde (46 or 49 g/kg crude protein in the ryegrass or red clover respectively). The four silages were offered ad libitum to 12 groups, each of five British Friesian steer calves, either alone or with urea or maize starch supplements at 18·4 or 185·2 g/kg total dry-matter intake respectively.Digestible organic matter and digestible energy intake, live-weight gain, carcass weight, nitrogen retention and all digestibility measurements were higher on the ryegrass silages than on the red clover silages. However, dry-matter intake was higher on the red clover silages.Formaldehyde treatment reduced lactic and total acid content, and protein degradation in the silages. It also increased intake, live-weight gain and nitrogen retention on ryegrass but not on red clover, the effect being greater when the urea supplement was given. Digestibility measurements were depressed by formaldehyde treatment, although cellulose digestibility was only depressed in the ryegrass silage.Supplementation with starch depressed silage intake and nitrogen and cellulose digestibility, but increased dry matter, organic matter and energy digestibilities, digestible organic matter and digestible energy intakes, live-weight gain and carcass weight. The positive intake, live-weight gain and carcass weight responses were greater on the silages treated with formic acid, while the digestibility and the live-weight gain responses were greater on the red clover silages. Starch supplementation did not improve nitrogen retention.The different animal production responses to formaldehyde treatment on the ryegrass and red clover silages are discussed.

Maize silage for milk production: The influence of concentrate supplementation and the effect of adding urea or ammonia before feeding

1979 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
S. R. Daley ◽  
J. C. Tayler
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Day Treatment ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Weight Changes ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter

ABSTRACT1. Thirty lactating British Friesian heifers and cows were individually given maize silage ad libitum containing 331 g dry matter/kg, 13 g nitrogen and 11·2 MJ of metabolizable energy per kg dry matter. Urea or aqueous ammonia was mixed in at the time of feeding to give 7·0 g nitrogen per kg silage dry matter. Urea-treated silage was given with concentrates at a high (mean 6·6 kg dry matter/day: treatment HU) or a low (mean 3·3 kg:treatment LU) level of feeding; the lower level only was given with ammonia-treated silage (treatment LA).2. The addition of ammonia raised silage pH values from 3·9 to 4·4. Silage dry-matter intakes in lactation weeks 7 to 22 for treatments HU, LU and LA were 8·8, 11·1 and 10·7 kg/day.3. Digestible organic matter content in the dry matter of the diets measured in vivo was not significantly affected by treatment. However, digestible organic matter intakes were significantly greater for treatment HU than for LU in weeks 7 to 10, and for LU than for LA in weeks 11 to 22.4. The yields of milk and the contents of protein, lactose and energy did not differ between treatments. The milk yields for treatments HU, LU and LA in weeks 7 to 22 were 20·2,19·2, 18·8 kg/day respectively. Fat content of milk was significantly depressed with the HU treatment for heifers in weeks 7 to 10. The live-weight changes of the cows in weeks 7 to 22 for treatments HU, LU and LA were +0·10, −0·07 and −0·37 kg/day; the live-weight loss by cows given treatment LA was significantly greater than for LU. The live-weight change of the heifers was not affected by treatment.

scholarly journals The effect of fishmeal supplementation of a straw-based diet on growth and calorimetric efficiency of growth in heifers

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 639-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Ortigues ◽  
T. Smith ◽  
M. Gill ◽  
S. B. Cammell ◽  
N. W. Yarrow
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Retention ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Basal Diet ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Dairy Heifers ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Acid Detergent Fibre ◽  
Energy Retention

Thirty-two 160 kg dairy heifers were used to measure the effects of increasing dietary protein content on growth and heat production. A basal diet containing (g/kg) 550 sodium hydroxide-treated straw, 220 barley, 220 sugarbeet pulp and 10 urea was offered with 0, 76 and 152 g fishmeal/kg dry matter of the basal diet (F0, F1 and F2 levels respectively). The three diets were each given at two levels of feeding (low, L; high, H): 57.6 g/d per kg metabolic body-weight (W0.75) for the LF0 diet and 74.7 g/d per kg W0.75 for the HFO diet. Apparent digestibility of the diets increased in response to the addition of fishmeal. Mean dry matter digestibility values were 0.67, 0.67, 0.69, 0.66, 0.68 and 0.69 and those for acid-detergent fibre digestibility were 0.60, 0.63, 0.66, 0.58, 0.60 and 0.65 for diets LF0, LF1, LF2, HF0, HF1 and HF2 respectively. Nitrogen retention increased in response to both fishmeal and feeding level. Live-weight gains were 170, 296, 434 g/d for the LF0, LF1 and LF2 diets and 468, 651 and 710 g/d for the HF0, HF1 and HF2 diets respectively. There were significant effects of increasing the plane of feeding and the level of fishmeal in the diet on live-weight gain. Dietary effects on live-weight gains were accompanied by increases in mean energy retention of 23, 45, 82, 94, 160 and 152 kJ/d per kg W0.75 for diets LF0, LF1, LF2, HF0, HF1 and HF2 respectively, but no definite evidence was obtained that dietary supplementation with fishmeal modified the efficiency of utilization of metabolizable energy for growth.

The effect of frequency of harvesting grass for silage and level of concentrate supplementation on the intake and performance of beef cattle

1982 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen ◽  
W. A. McIlmoyle
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Concentrate Supplementation ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Cutting Interval ◽  
The Mean ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Block Experiment

ABSTRACTA randomized-block experiment has been carried out over 2 consecutive years to examine the effects of frequency of harvesting grass for silage, and level of concentrate supplementation, on the intake and performance of beef cattle. Swards of S24 perennial ryegrass were harvested at 6-, 9- and 12-week intervals throughout the growing season, commencing on 14 May, 4 June and 25 June respectively. The three silages were offered ad libitum with 0, 1, 2 or 3 kg per head per day of cereal-based concentrates to 84 Hereford-cross suckled calves (mean initial live weight 313 kg) in a 3 × 4 factorial design experiment in each year. The treatments were imposed for a mean period of 100 days. The digestible organic matter in the dry-matter values of the silages harvested at 6-, 9- and 12-week intervals were 0·684, 0·646 and 0·607 respectively. The mean silage dry-matter intakes and live-weight gains for the silages harvested at 6-, 9- and 12-week intervals were 4·75, 4·70 and 4·74 (s.e. 0·08) kg/day, and 0·75, 0·67 and 0·52 (s.e. 0·020) kg/day, respectively. The mean silage dry-matter intakes and live-weight gains for the supplement at 0, 1, 2 and 3kg/day were 5·23, 4·79, 4·72 and 4·17 (s.e. 009)kg/day, and 0·38, 0·57, 0·75 and 0·88 (s.e. 0·023) kg/day, respectively. There was a significant interaction between cutting interval and level of supplementation for live-weight gain, the response to supplementation declining as silage digestibility increased.

Rearing of dairy cattle. 7. Effect of level of nutrition and body condition on the fertility of heifers

1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Leaver
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Body Condition Score ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Pregnancy Rates ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Digestible Organic Matter ◽  
Condition Score ◽  
Moderate Condition

SUMMARYOne-hundred-and-seventy British Friesian heifers were individually fed from 6 weeks before to 6 weeks after artificial insemination on a diet of 90% maize silage and 10% decorticated groundnut in the dry matter. Three levels of nutrition were compared: 48, 55 and 62 g/day of digestible organic matter/kg live weight0·73, which gave mean growth rates of 0·34, 0·50 and 0·68 kg/day respectively. Pregnancy rates to first service were not significantly different, averaging 67, 69 and 65%. Heifers were given a body condition score at the time of insemination, and pregnancy rates corrected for level of nutrition were 42,72, 70 and 63% for heifers in poor, moderate, good or very good condition. For heifers in poor/moderate condition increasing the level of nutrition increased pregnancy rates and for those in good/very good condition pregnancy rates declined, but these effects were not significant.

The effect of additive treatment of grass silage and the food additive avoparcin on the response of calves to supplementation of silage-based diets with fish meal

1988 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Fish Meal ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Food Additive ◽  
Total N ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Fermentation Quality

ABSTRACTTwo experiments have been carried out to examine the effects of the fermentation quality of grass silage and the inclusion of avoparcin in the diet on the response in the performance of calves to supplementation of silage-based diets with fish meal. The eight treatments used in each experiment consisted of untreated and formic acid-treated (2·5 1/t) silages offered ad libitum and supplemented with either barley (B) or a barley/fish meal (BF) concentrate (200 g fish meal per kg), without or with 150 mg avoparcin per head daily in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. All animals received 1·25 and 1·0 kg concentrates per head daily in experiments 1 and 2 respectively. In each experiment, the diets were offered to 40 castrated male cattle which were initially 126 and 110 kg live weight in experiments 1 and 2 respectively. On average over the two experiments the untreated and formic acid-treated silages contained 24·8 and 24·5 g nitrogen (N) per kg dry matter (DM); 475 and 571 g protein N per kg total N; 76 and 62 g ammonia-N per kg total N and 45-9 and 27·5 g volatile fatty acids per kg DM respectively. Silage DM intakes for the untreated silages supplemented with B and BF and the acid-treated silages supplemented with B and BF without avoparcin and for the untreated silages supplemented with B and BF and the acid-treated silages supplemented with B and BF with avoparcin were 3·0, 3·2, 3·2, 3·0, 2·9, 3·0, 3·0 and 3·2 (s.e. 0·16) kg/day respectively. Live-weight gains for the corresponding treatments were 0·97, 1·12, 0·98, 1·01, 1·00, 1·07, 1·10 and 1·13 (s.e. 0·032) kg/day respectively. It is concluded that the inclusion of fish meal in diets based on well preserved, grass silage and barley did not affect intake and produced a small response (70 g/day) in the live-weight gain of calves. The inclusion of avoparcin in the diet did not significantly affect the response to fish meal.

Rapeseed meal, maize-gluten feed and fish meal as protein supplements for maize silage given to growing/finishing Limousin × Holstein Friesian bulls

1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-228
Author(s):  
H. F. Grundy ◽  
K. P. A. Wheeler ◽  
R. Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Fish Meal ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Rapeseed Meal ◽  
Fresh Weight ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Protein Supplements ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Gluten Feed

AbstractIn each of three experiments, 60 Limousin × Holstein Friesian bulls, initially of 191, (s..e. 5·0), 177 (s.e. 5·5) and 210 (s.e. 7·2) kg mean live weight for experiments 1, 2 and 3 respectively, were offered maize silage ad libitum plus one of three barley-based, isonitrogenous compound diets containing 200 g rapeseed meal, 575 g maize-gluten feed or 100 g fish meal per kg fresh weight. Compound diets were given at the rate of 3·0 kg (fresh weight) per head per day up to 320 kg live weight and at 3·3 kg per head per day from 320 kg to 420 kg live weight. In experiment 3, when bulls were taken through to slaughter, the compound diet was further increased to 3·5 kg per head per day from 420 kg live weight to slaughter. Experiments 1 and 2 were conducted over 128 and 194 days, with mean live weights at the end of the experiments of 347 (s.e. 17·2) and 414 (s.e. 24·2) kg respectively. In experiment 3, bulls were slaughtered at 16 months of age at a mean live weight of 544 (s.e. 25·0) kg.In experiment 1, the fish-meal diet gave the highest rate of daily live-weight gain at 1·34 compared with 1·17 and 1·16 (s.e.d. 0·041) kg for rapeseed-meal and maize-gluten diets, respectively. In experiments 2 and 3, daily gains were similar on all treatments at 1·21, 1·19 and 1·26 (s.e.d. 0·036) kg and 1·06, 1·09 and 1·11 (s.e.d. 0·035) kg for the rapeseed-meal, maize-gluten and fish-meal diets respectively. Total daily dry-matter intakes did not show consistent trends: in experiment 1, intakes were 5·8, 5·6 and 5·8 kg/day, in experiment 2, 6·2, 6·2 and 6·3 kg/day; and in experiment 3, 7·1, 7·3 and 7·1 kg/day for rapeseed-meal, maize-gluten and fish meal, respectively. The higher intakes of dry matter in experiment 3 were due to the greater intakes of maize silage by bulls taken to heavier weights in this experiment.

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.

The utilization of maize silage for intensive beef production: I. The effect of level and source of supplementary nitrogen on the utilization of maize silage by cattle of different ages

1975 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Thomas ◽  
J. M. Wilkinson ◽  
J. C. Tayler
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Maize Silage ◽  
Live Weight Gain ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Urea Addition

SUMMARYFifty-four British Friesian castrated male calves, initially 3, 6 or 9 months of age (107, 180 and 249 kg initial live weight, respectively), were individually fed for 83 days on maize silage (27·9% dry matter (D.M.), 10·7% crude protein in D.M.), offeredad libitum. Silage was offered either alone or supplemented with cobs of dried lucerne (21% of total D.M. intake). Three levels of urea (0, 1 and 2% of silage D.M.) were added to the silage before feeding.Total D.M. intakes averaged 23·0, 23·4 and 21·6 g/kg live weight (LW) for the 3-, 6- and 9-month-old animals, respectively. Addition of urea increased silage intake by 11% in the 6-month-old group but there was little effect in the 3- and 9-month-old groups. Lucerne supplementation reduced silage D.M. intake from 22·0 to 18·4 g/kg LW (P< 0·001) and increased total D.M. intake by 1·4 g/kg LW (P< 0·001).Live-weight gain (LWG) of the cattle fed on silage alone increased (P< 0·001) with increasing age of animal. The main effect of urea was to elevate (P< 0·001) LWG from an average of 0·79 (no urea) to 0·94 kg/head/day (2% urea). However, it appeared that most of this effect was confined to the 6-month-old group. The effect of lucerne on LWG decreased with increasing age of animal (P< 0·001). Inclusion of lucerne in the diet significantly reduced the response to urea (P< 0·05).Feed conversion efficiency (LWG/100 Mcal DE intake) decreased (P< 0·01) with increasing age of animal but increased with urea addition from an average of 4·7 (no urea) to 5·3 kg LWG/100 Meal DE intake (2% urea). The response to lucerne supplementation in terms of efficiency was greatest in the 3-month-old group and thereafter declined markedly with increasing age of animal.The results of this experiment indicated that cattle older than 6 months of age (180 kg LW) could achieve a rate of growth of 1·0 kg/head/day on maize silage supplemented solely with urea, but that younger animals required supplementary lucerne to support a high rate of live-weight gain.

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