A note on the use of kale as a replacement for cereal-based concentrates for milk production

1976 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-128
Author(s):  
F. J. Gordon

SUMMARYTwenty-four lactating cows were used in a 6-week randomized block experiment to assess the effect of replacing 2·4 kg of cereal-based concentrate dry matter by either 2·6 or 3·2 kg of kale dry matter for cows with ad libitum access to grass silage. Milk yield, milk composition and live-weight change were not affected by the inclusion of kale. Silage dry-matter intake was significantly lower on the kale treatments than with concentrate, being 8·51, 7·89 and 7·95 kg per day for the concentrate, low-kale and high-kale supplements respectively. Energy digestibilities were 68·1, 74·4 and 76·4% and nitrogen digestibilities 67·1, 74·9 and 78·8% for the three treatments respectively.

1975 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Gordon

SummaryTwenty-eight lactating cows were used in an experiment of changeover design with four periods to evaluate concentrates containing 0, 16, 32, 49, 65, 81 and 97% dried grass. The dry matter of the dried grass was 63% digestible. The concentrates also contained barley, together with groundnut meal to equalize their protein content at approximately 16-5% of dry matter. All animals had grass silage ad libitum and all concentrates were given at the rate of 0·4 kg/kg milk. Milk yield, milk composition and liveweight change were not affected by including dried grass in the concentrate. No significant effect of concentrate on silage intake was obtained. Ration digestibility and nitrogen utilization were measured with four animals per treatment. The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and nitrogen was not reduced by increasing the proportion of dried grass in the concentrate. The efficiency of utilization of apparently digested nitrogen for total productive purposes (body retention and milk nitrogen) was also not affected by the proportion of dried grass.


1983 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. KUNG Jr. ◽  
B. W. JESSE ◽  
J. W. THOMAS ◽  
J. T. HUBER ◽  
R. S. EMERY

Whole barley was treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in laboratory trials. Dry matter disappearance from nylon bags in the rumen of whole barley treated with 2.5, 3.5, or 4.9% NaOH for 30 h was 59.6, 72.4, and 93.0%, respectively, compared with 82.2% for untreated ground barley. In a subsequent lactation trial, 24 Holstein cows (eight per treatment) were fed high moisture ground ear corn, high moisture rolled barley or high moisture whole barley treated with 3.5% NaOH. Milk persistencies tended to be greater for cows fed high moisture rolled barley, next for ground ear corn and least for NaOH-treated barley. Milk composition was similar for all treatments. Dry matter intake was greatest for cows fed ground ear corn and lower for those fed the barley diets. Alpha-linked glucose and pH of feces were similar for cows fed ground ear corn and high moisture rolled barley diets, but fecal pH was lower and alpha-linked glucose concentrations three times greater for NaOH-treated barley. Digestibility percents of dry matter, acid detergent fiber and nitrogen were 61.4, 25.3, 64.7 for ground ear corn; 64.4, 38.0, 67.1 for high moisture rolled barley; and 56.8, 43.2, 54.8 for NaOH-treated barley, respectively. Rumen grain turnover estimated by excretion of ytterbium in feces was greatest for NaOH-treated barley (9.09%/h), intermediate for ground ear corn (6.10%/h) and lowest for high moisture rolled barley (4.93%/h). Key words: Dairy, sodium hydroxide, high moisture grains


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Manni ◽  
Marketta Rinne ◽  
Erkki Joki-Tokola ◽  
Arto Huuskonen

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of restricted feeding strategies on performance of growing and finishing dairy bulls. The feeding experiment comprised in total 32 Finnish Ayrshire bulls with an initial mean live weight (LW) of 122 kg and age of 114 days. Feeding treatments were silage ad libitum and daily barley allowance of 93 g kg-1 LW0.60 (A); restricted feeding (R) at 0.80 × A; increasing feeding (I) similar to R until LW of 430 kg and thereafter similar to A; and decreasing feeding (D) similar to A until LW of 430 kg and thereafter similar to R. Restricted feeding strategies decreased daily dry matter intake and LW gain and increased the time to reach the target carcass weight (300 kg). Bulls on I exhibited compensatory growth. There were no significant differences in feed efficiency between the treatments. The present experiment indicates that silage intake ad libitum and supplemented with concentrate resulted in most effective beef production.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Gordon

ABSTRACTA randomized block experiment was used to assess the effects of wilting of herbage prior to ensiling. Three silages, each a composite of three harvests taken over the season, were prepared by ensiling herbage as unwilted, medium-wilted or high-wilted material with mean dry-matter contents in the resulting silages of 192, 254 and 455g/kg respectively. The silages were ensiled in bunker silos using the same harvesting machinery and with formic acid applied at the rate of 2 81/t of herbage. The silages were offered to 81 January- and February-calving cows from the 8th day post partum until going to pasture on 27 April, with a mean period on treatmen t of 92 days. In addition, all animals received a fixed concentrate allowance of 7·6 kg/day. Wilting increased silage dry-matter intake, the mean intakes being 9·2, 9·4 and 10·0kg/day for the unwilted, medium-wilted and high-wilted material respectively, but resulted in a significant depression in milk yield, with the yields obtained during the final 14 days on treatment being 23·6, 21 -8 and 21·5kg/day respectively. Milk composition, live weight, body condition, total ration digestibility and nitrogen-balance data are also presented.


1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
J. C. Tayler

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.


1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. S. Gill ◽  
M. E. Castle

ABSTRACTTwo separate experiments were conducted with 12 lactating and four non-lactating Ayrshire cows to compare three frequencies of feeding concentrates per day. Milk production was measured in a 16-week experiment in which the lactating cows were given either a low- or a high-protein concentrate 2, 4 or 22 times (×) per day. Eating behaviour was measured in a 15-week experiment in which the non-lactating cows were also given the low- and high-protein concentrates 2 and 22 × per day. The low- and high-protein concentrates had concentrations of 128 and 202 g crude protein/kg dry matter respectively. Grass silage with a digestibility of organic matter in the dry matter of 0·655 was offered ad libitum to all the cows. Frequency of feeding had no significant effects on silage intake, total nutrient intake, milk yield and live weight. The milk fat concentration increased as the frequency of feeding increased but none of the differences in this and the other milk constituents was significant. Total eating time per day and eating and ruminating time per kg dry matter were not significantly different on the 2 × and the 22 × feeding treatments. There were no interactions between the feeding-frequency treatments and the two types of concentrates. It is concluded that there were no advantages in offering concentrates in more than two separate feeds per day when the daily amount averaged about 7 kg per cow and good-quality silage was available ad libitum


1996 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Zerbini ◽  
A. G. Wold ◽  
D. Demissie

AbstractEighteen F1 crossbred dairy cows (Friesian × Boran and Simmental × Boran) were allocated to one of three diet groups (H: natural pasture hay; H+3: natural pasture hay + 3 kg concentrate; and H+5: natural pasture hay + 5 kg concentrate) using a stratified random sampling procedure, with parity, milk production genotype, body weight and body condition score as blocking variables. Cows on each diet were then allocated to three draught forces (7, 11 and 15 kg draught force per 100 kg live weight) in a cross-over design to investigate relationships between work output, live-weight changes, dry-matter intake (DMI) and milk yield. Each cow worked for 36 days in early lactation (from calving to 90 days) and for a further 36 days in late lactation (from 250 to 340 days post partum). Work output was similar for cows on each of the three diets. Cows on the H diet consumed more hay than cows on H+3 and H−5 diets. Hay and total DMI, milk yield and milk fat were similar across draught forces and during working and resting days when the cows were not pregnant. Similar results were obtained when cows were from 82 to 172 days pregnant. Pregnancy did not affect the ability of cows to perform work at different intensities. During working days cows lost live weight both when pregnant and when non-pregnant. During rest days, non-pregnant cows on diets H, H+3 and H+5 compensated proportionately 0·12, 0·59 and 0·59, respectively, of the live weight lost during working days. Pregnant cows on diet H+3 and H+5 compensated proportionately 0·95 and 1·77 live weight, respectively. Lower total live-weight losses during the pregnant period could be attributed partly to relatively greater DMIs and lower milk production, but also to gestation. Prediction of live-weight change from total DMI above maintenance, milk yield and work output during periods of 6 working days was poor (R2 = 0·18). However, the same parameters explained adequately changes in live weight for supplemented and non-supplemented working cows (R2 = 0·38 and 0·79, respectively) during a period of 90 days.


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 ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
K. Aston ◽  
W.J. Fisher ◽  
R.D. Baker

The trial is one of a series in a project to develop a mathematical model to predict the consequences of changes to the food supply on yields of milk constituents. The objective of the trial was to measure the responses of winter-calved dairy cows to changes to the level or to the distribution within a level of concentrates given with grass silage ad libitum.Ninety-eight British Friesian cows in their second or subsequent lactations with a mean calving date 6 December were used in a randomised block experiment. There were 7 treatment groups. Cows received on average 3, 6 or 9 kg concentrate dry matter (DM) per day over weeks 4 to 22 of lactation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 ◽  
pp. 32-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. Sutton ◽  
S.B. Cammell ◽  
D.E. Beever ◽  
R.H. Phipps ◽  
D.J. Humphries

Increasing maturity at harvest of maize silage has been shown to affect feed intake and milk production in Holstein-Friesian cows (Phipps et al., 1998). The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether the milk production response was related to improvements in the efficiency of feed energy utilisation.Four multiparous Holstein-Friesian cows (mean live weight 620 kg) fitted with permanent cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were given diets based on maize silage and grass silage (3:1 DM ratio) offered ad libitum plus 8.7 kg DM/day of a concentrate (254 g crude protein (CP)/kg DM) starting 5-10 weeks post-calving. The maize silage was harvested at four different stages of maturity as defined by DM content and ensiled without additives. The grass silage was a first-cut perennial ryegrass (260 g DM/kg, 519 g neutral detergent fibre (NDF)/kg DM, 146 g CP/kg DM).


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