Supplementation of grazing dairy cows with a brewers grains/treated straw mixture

Author(s):  
J.D. Leaver ◽  
R.C. Campling

Supplementary feeding of grazing dairy cows is often uneconomic, and whilst supplementation with silage (buffer feeding) can be worthwhile, this often leads to a depletion of winter forage stores. In this study, a mixture of brewers grains and treated straw was used as a supplement. Offered as a 1:1 mixture in the dry matter (DM), it is a purchased substitute for grass silage, having a similar cost, and similar metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) contents. The high seasonality adjustments to milk price in mid-late season make supplementation potentially worthwhile.Experiments were carried out from April to September in 1988 and 1989, which had moderate and very low rainfall respectively. Each year 20 British Friesian cows which calved December to March (1988 experiment) and February-April (1989) were allocated at random to either treatment B or C. In B, the cows were offered a 1:1 mixture (DM basis) of brewers grains and NaOH treated chopped barley straw for 60 minutes after morning milking. In C, the cows received no supplement. Both groups were fed 1.0 kg/day of concentrates in the milking parlour. Due to the severe drought in 1989, concentrate feeding was increased to 5.0 kg/day for all cows during the last 4 weeks of the experiment. Also, urea-treated whole crop wheat was fed at a level of 2.5 kg DM/day during the last 7 days.

1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 85-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Dewhurst ◽  
D.W.R. Davies ◽  
W.J. Fisher ◽  
K. Aston

Previous studies (Moorby et al, 1994) have shown increased yields of protein and lactose in the subsequent lactation as a consequence of feeding additional undegradable dietary protein (UDP) and restricting energy intake during the dry period. This experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of supplementary UDP in the dry period diet of Holstein-Friesian cows given unrestricted access to grass silage and 1.5 kg of barley per day.Sixty-one cows received diets based on ad libitum access to grass silage with either (a) 1.5 kg barley / day or (b) 1.0 kg barley and 0.5 kg Maize Gluten Meal / day. After calving, cows had ad libitum access to grass silage (Metabolisable Energy (ME)=11.3 MJ/kg DM; crude protein (CP)=181 g/kg DM) and received 5 kg/day of concentrates (ME=13.0 MJ/kg DM; CP=250g/kg DM).


1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
R.J. Dewhurst ◽  
D.W.R. Davies ◽  
W.J. Fisher ◽  
K. Aston

Previous studies (Moorby et al, 1994) have shown increased yields of protein and lactose in the subsequent lactation as a consequence of feeding additional undegradable dietary protein (UDP) and restricting energy intake during the dry period. This experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of supplementary UDP in the dry period diet of Holstein-Friesian cows given unrestricted access to grass silage and 1.5 kg of barley per day.Sixty-one cows received diets based on ad libitum access to grass silage with either (a) 1.5 kg barley / day or (b) 1.0 kg barley and 0.5 kg Maize Gluten Meal / day. After calving, cows had ad libitum access to grass silage (Metabolisable Energy (ME)=11.3 MJ/kg DM; crude protein (CP)=181 g/kg DM) and received 5 kg/day of concentrates (ME=13.0 MJ/kg DM; CP=250g/kg DM).


1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
J. N. Methu ◽  
E. Owen ◽  
A. Abate ◽  
M. Scarr ◽  
J. Tanner

Several studies with barley straw (e.g. Wahed et al, 1990) and sorghum stover (e.g. Osafo, 1993) have shown improvements in intake with increasing ‘ad libitum’ amounts offered. Furthermore, these studies have demonstrated that sheep and goats offered barley straw or sorghum stover in long, unprocessed form, increase intake by selecting for leaf and leaf sheath, and against stem. This phenomenon offers a simple feeding strategy to use selective feeding behaviour to improve intake and hence production. The aim of the present experiment was to study the effect of offering increasing amounts of long maize stover on intake and selection by dairy cows.Six, early- to mid-lactation Ayrshire and Friesian cows (live weight, M, 430 kg) were used in a double 3x3 Latin square design with 24-day (d) feeding periods. Cows were offered long (unchopped) maize stover at low, medium or high ‘ad libitum’ rates, i.e. 31, 59 or 87 g dry matter (DM)/kg M.d. Cows also received 3.2 kg DM/d of cotton seed cake (339 g/kg DM crude protein) in two meals at milking (0700 h and 1800 h). Stover was offered in one meal daily, at 0700 h, after collecting refusals from the previous day. Amounts of stover offered and refused were weighed daily. Samples of offered stover (0.5 kg) and refused stover (0.5 kg) were analysed for DM daily. All refused stover and 4.0 kg samples of offered stover were botanically fractionated, daily, into stem (S), leaf (L), sheath (Sh) and husk (H). Milk yield was recorded daily and cows weighed at the start and end of each period.


1969 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-388
Author(s):  
A. L. Hoogendoorn ◽  
C. M. Grieve

Chromic oxide (Cr2O3) in paper pellets was used as an indicator for digestibility studies with four Holstein-Friesian cows fed rations composed of different roughage to concentrate ratios. Cows A and B received one pellet, or 3.46 g of Cr2O3, whereas cows C and D received three pellets, or 10.38 g of Cr2O3, daily.Recovery of Cr2O3 in the feces varied from 84 to 103% for animals A and B and from 92 to 95% for animals C and D. The coefficients of apparent digestion of dry matter were lower (P < 0.01) when the Cr2O3 method was used instead of the conventional method. When samples were taken at 0500, 0900, 1300 and 1700 hours, the Cr2O3 method gave average estimates of digestibility for animal pairs A, B and C, D that were 94.2 and 97.5% of those obtained by the conventional method. Standard deviations for both the Cr2O3 and conventional methods were relatively high.Excretion patterns of Cr2O3 were not signicantly correlated with those of crude protein, phosphorus and calcium. The average concentrations of crude protein, phosphorus and calcium in compounded feces samples collected at 0500, 0900, 1300 and 1700 hours were 101.3, 100.6 and 96.7% of those in samples of the total excretions.The daily administration of 10.38 g of Cr2O3 at 0900 hours for eight days, and the collection of fecal grab samples at 0500, 0900, 1300 and 1700 hours daily during the last five days seemed satisfactory for estimating apparent digestibility of dry matter.


Author(s):  
J J Hyslop ◽  
D J Roberts

In a previous experiment outlined at last year's conference (Hyslop and Roberts, 1988), it was demonstrated that replacement of a proprietary pelleted concentrate with malt distillers grains (draff), should be limited to 15% of total dry matter intake (DMI) when draff is offered in two feeds per day. However there is little evidence to validate such a limitation when draff is used as a concentrate replacement in complete diets. This experiment examined the effect of replacing barley/soya with draff plus additional minerals in silage based complete diets.In a cyclic changeover design experiment consisting of 4 three week periods, fifteen British Friesian cows in early lactation were offered five treatments. Cows were given ad libitum access to one of five complete diets based on grass silage (69 “D”). Draff plus additional minerals gradually replaced barley/soya at increasing rates in diets 0-4 respectively.


1984 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. BURGESS ◽  
J. W. G. NICHOLSON

Total mixed rations containing three levels of crude protein (10, 13 and 16%) were fed ad libitum to a total of 48 cows in midlactation in two experiments. Rations were composed of 60% wilted timothy silage and 40% concentrates on a dry matter basis. Supplemental protein was supplied as soybean meal. Daily nitrogen intake per cow averaged 263, 377 and 510 g in exp. 1, and 305, 435 and 509 g in exp. 2 for the three rations, respectively. Cows fed rations containing 10% crude protein consumed less (P < 0.05) total dry matter and lost more (P < 0.01) body weight than cows fed rations with either 13 or 16% crude protein. Milk production was not affected by protein level in exp. 1 but in exp. 2, 10% crude protein decreased (P < 0.01) actual milk and 4% fat corrected milk yields. Milk fat and protein percentages tended to increase with increasing dietary protein level. Rumen acetate tended to decline while propionate increased (P < 0.05) at higher crude protein levels. Rumen ammonia nitrogen and plasma urea nitrogen levels were closely related to nitrogen intake. Key words: Dairy cows, grass silage, protein, solubility


1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 ◽  
pp. 90-90
Author(s):  
I.M. Carrick ◽  
D.C. Patterson ◽  
F.J. Gordon

Dairy cow genetic merit continues to increase in the dairy herd. These animals require a higher level of nutritional input than lower genetic merit cows if higher performance levels are to be sustained. The high cost of ingredients for ruminant diets highlights the need for greater precision in ration formulation in order to improve the efficiency of feed utilisation. This experiment was carried out to assess the effect of DUP supplementation on the performance of dairy cows with ad libitum access to grass silage.An experiment was conducted to investigate the response by high genetic merit Holstein Friesian dairy cows (PTA90 fat plus protein = 61 kg) to both source and concentration of protein in the concentrate, given in addition to ad libitum grass silage (metabolisable energy (ME) = 10.9 MJ/kg DM; crude protein (CP) = 166 g/kg DM). Twenty-four cows, including 12 first parity animals (mean days calved 37.5, s.d. 22.3), were blocked according to milk yield, calving date and parity. The experimental design was a balanced changeover with four 4-week periods.


1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Castle ◽  
W. C. Retter ◽  
J. D. Metcalfe

SUMMARYGrass silage with a dry-matter content of 20·7%, and containing 18·9% crude protein and 67·0% digestible organic matter in the dry matter was self-fed to 20 lactating dairy cows for 18 weeks. In addition, 9 kg of brewers' grains with a dry-matter content of 28·8% was offered to each cow daily. The two supplement treatments were a barley mix and a groundnut cube containing 11·9 and 33·5% crude protein in the dry matter respectively. The barley was given at the rate of 4 kg/10 kg milk, and the groundnut at 1·5 kg/10 kg milk. The mean daily yields of milk were 18·9 and 19·4 kg/cow on the barley and groundnut treatments respectively and did not differ significantly.


1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. A. Brigstocke ◽  
N. H. Cuthbert ◽  
W. S. Thickett ◽  
M. A. Lindeman ◽  
P. N. Wilson

ABSTRACTCassava is increasingly available in the United Kingdom for use in compound feeds. The trial reported here was a 2 × 4 factorial and compared dairy cow compound feeds containing nil or 400 g of cassava per kg, and crude protein levels of 100, 120, 140 and 160 g/kg, given in conjunction with grass silage.Forty-eight Friesian cows were used in a change-over design with four periods each of 4 weeks. The trial, therefore, compared six blocks of four cows on each of the non-cassava and cassava treatments, with each cow in a block receiving a different protein level. Compound feeds without cassava had a mean barley content of 600g/kg whereas feeds with cassava had a mean barley content of 103g/kg.There were no significant differences in milk yield (21 14 and 22·27 kg/day) or milk fat level (41·4 and 40·4g/kg milk) on the non-cassava and cassava treatments respectively (P ≤ 0·05). Differences in solids-not-fat concentration were also not significant.Average intakes of silage were similar on each type of diet. Daily intakes of the compound feed per cow varied from 6·95kg on the non-cassava treatment to 7·08kg on the cassava treatment. This difference in compound intake was not significant. The results indicated that compound feed containing 400 g of cassava per kg perform as well as cereal-based feeds and, therefore, cassava can be considered as a satisfactory replacement for cereals up to a level of 400 g/kg in compound feeds for dairy cows.


Author(s):  
O D Davies ◽  
V J Theobald

When autumn calving dairy cows are offered low levels of compound supplement, milk production and subsequent profitability depends not only on silage quality but also the quantity of silage consumed. Silage quality and palatability are undoubtably related but when grass silage contributes in excess of 75% of total dry matter intake, some silages which, to date, would be defined as being of good quality, appear comparatively less palatable than their chemical analyses would initially suggest, To enable accurate ration formulation in dairy feeding systems based on ad libitum grass silage, a prediction of silage dry matter intake is essential. In this experiment nine silages, all with a high digestibility and crude protein content, but varying in their fermentation characteristics, were offered ad libitum to individually fed October calving dairy cows receiving 3 kg of a 160 g/kg crude protein cereal based compound supplement daily.


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