The effect of complementary supplements on grass silage intake

Author(s):  
G. Moseley

Grass silage provides more than 80% of winter forage for livestock but, despite significant advances in ensilage methods, there remain significant problems of low intake, poor nutrient utilization and high effluent losses. The use of complementary concentrate supplements formulated to match silage composition, and the addition of absorbent feed compounds to grass during ensilage were examined as a means of addressing these problems.Two contrasting silages were made from the same grass crop, either by applying Add Safe (3.51/T) or by adding an absorbent silage enhancing feed compound (kg/T) during ensilage. These were fed to groups of wether sheep either alone or with a complementary supplement and dry matter intake, digestibility and nutrient balances were estimated.

1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 897-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. VEIRA ◽  
M. IVAN ◽  
G. BUTLER ◽  
J. G. PROULX

Following weaning at 6–7 mo of age, 36 beef steers were used to determine production responses when grass silage was supplemented with barley or fishmeal. The silage was made from direct-cut, formic- acid-treated grass harvested from a mixed sward and had a high nitrogen content but poor fermentation characteristics. The silage was fed ad libitum for 98 days either alone or supplemented with 500 g fishmeal or 500 g barley per day. Both fishmeal and barley increased total dry matter intake (P < 0.01) by an amount equivalent to the quantity of supplement offered but had no effect on silage intake (P > 0.05). Steers fed the fishmeal grew substantially faster than either the barley (0.53 kg/day) or unsupplemented (0.54 kg/day) groups (P < 0.01). Fishmeal supplementation resulted in a large reduction (35%) in the amount of feed required per kilogram of gain. Key words: Cattle, grass silage, fishmeal, growth


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.


Foods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Moran ◽  
Shannon S. Wilson ◽  
Cormac K. McElhinney ◽  
Frank J. Monahan ◽  
Mark McGee ◽  
...  

The objective was to compare the quality of beef from bulls reared in typical Irish indoor systems or in novel grass-based systems. Bulls were assigned to one of the following systems: (a) grass silage plus barley-based concentrate ad libitum (CON); (b) grass silage ad libitum plus 5 kg of concentrate (SC); (c) grazed grass without supplementation (G0); (d) grazed grass plus 0.5 kg of the dietary dry matter intake as concentrate (GC) for (100 days) until slaughter (14.99 months). Carcass characteristics and pH decline were recorded. Longissimus thoracis was collected for analytical and sensory analysis. Lower carcass weight, conformation and fatness scores were found for grazing compared to CON and SC groups. CON bulls had highest intramuscular fat and lighter meat colour compared with grazing bulls. The SC meat (14 days aged) was rated higher for tenderness, texture, flavour and acceptability compared with grazing groups. CON saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid (FA) concentration was highest, conversely, omega-3 FA concentration was higher for GC compared with CON, while no differences were found in polyunsaturated FA. In conclusion, while market fatness specification was not reached by grazed grass treatments, beef eating quality was not detrimentally affected and nutritional quality was improved.


1954 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. Dodsworth

1. A feeding trial is described including four groups of cattle fed on silage only, two mixtures of silage and roots, and roots, straw, hay and oats.2. The live-weight gains made are recorded together with the rate of dry-matter intake.3. The efficiency of the dry matter of the diets was calculated.4. Silage fed alone produced a significantly greater rate of fattening than the other three diets.5. Cattle receiving roots in the morning and silage at night consumed 10·78% more dry matter and made greater live-weight gains than cattle fed on silage in the morning and roots at night.6. Calculation of the starch values of the roots and silage showed that these are higher when fed together than when silage is fed alone or when roots are fed with straw, hay and oats.7. An experiment is described designed to determine the effect of the dry-matter percentage of the diet on dry-matter intake in ruminants and of sudden changes in dry-matter content on digestibility.8. Sheep receiving 19·46% dry-matter silage consumed 16·7% more dry matter and 19·8% more starch equivalent than sheep eating 15·85% dry-matter silage.9. When the dry-matter percentage of the silage fell from 19·46 to 15·77 the digestibility of the dry matter fell by over 10%.10. The starch equivalent of the silage when fed alone was determined from the results of a digestibility trial and according to the performance of the cattle in the feeding trial. The values found were 65·88 and 66·15% respectively.11. The losses suffered in silage-making in twentyfive silos are recorded and discussed. The loss of dry matter and crude protein both average approximately 40% of that ensiled. The need for finding methods of reducing these losses is again stressed.


Author(s):  
K W Agnew ◽  
C S Mayne

In a previous study at this Institute, significant increases in total dry matter intake were obtained with first lactation animals offered grass silage and concentrates as a complete diet rather than in separate feeds. However, the increased DM intake associated with complete diet feeding was not reflected in improved animal performance. Similar results have also been reported by Phipps, Bines, Fulford and Weller (1984) and Cassel, Merrill, Milligan and Guest (1984).The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect on animal performance of offering two types of concentrate in addition to grass silage, with concentrates offered either as a complete diet or in three feeds per day.


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.


2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 123-128
Author(s):  
Olusola Adeyanju Olorunnisomo ◽  
Gladys Abiemwense Ibhaze

Abstract Year-round availability of feed is a major concern for dairy farmers in many parts of the tropics. Silage making is a reliable means of providing feed for dairy cattle during periods of forage scarcity. In this study, Elephant grass (EG) (Pennisetum purpureum) was ensiled with cassava peel (CSP) at 0, 10, 30 and 50% levels of inclusion on a wet basis. At 21, 42 and 63 days of ensiling, silage samples were taken for chemical analysis and the remaining materials were fed to four lactating Sokoto Gudali cows for a period of 84 days using a Latin square design. Dry matter (DM) content of silage mixtures increased from 18.22 to 28.70% as level of CSP in the silage mixture increased while crude protein (7.33 to 6.08%) and crude fibre (32.80 to 23.95%) decreased. Dry matter intake of cows, milk yield and feed conversion ratio (FCR) varied (P < 0.05) with inclusion of cassava peel in the silage mixtures. Dry matter intake of cows increased from 2.56 to 3.84% of body weight (BW) and milk yield from 2.90 to 6.70 kg/d as proportion of CSP in the grass silage increased. Feed conversion ratio of cows ranged from 2.08 to 3.23 and improved with inclusion of CSP in the silage. These results show that addition of cassava peel to Elephant grass silage improved intake and milk production in Sokoto Gudali cows fed Elephant grass silage.


1979 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 727-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. MATHISON ◽  
L. P. MILLIGAN ◽  
J. WOHLLEBE ◽  
R. M. ELOFSON

Alfalfa-bromegrass or alfalfa-bromegrass-timothy forage was treated with SO2 as a silage preservative at levels of 0, 0.14, 0.36 and 0.66% of the fresh forage weight while filling eight concrete stave silos (2.4 m in diameter × 6.1 m high). There was retention in the silage of 38–59% of the applied SO2. Although SO2 treatment did not (P > 0.05) influence silage pH or have a consistent effect on temperature, the ammonia N content of the silage was reduced (P < 0.01) from 10.9% of the total N in the control silage to 5.2% of the total N in the silage treated with 0.66% SO2. Silage acetate and lactate concentrations were also lowered (P < 0.01) by SO2 treatment. Butyrate and ethanol concentrations were very low and not (P > 0.05) affected by the preservative. The silage conserved with SO2 and hay harvested from the same fields were assessed using 80 steers in a feeding trial of 55 days. SO2 treatment had no consistent effect on dry matter intake; however, the rates of gain of the steers fed silage preserved with 0.36 and 0.66% SO2 were 26 and 23% higher (P < 0.05), respectively, than those of steers fed untreated silage. Feed dry matter to gain ratio decreased (P < 0.05) from 12.5 to 9.3 as the SO2 treatment level was increased from 0 to 0.66%. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in rate of gain, dry matter intake or the feed to gain ratio between steers fed hay and those fed the silage without SO2 treatment. It was concluded that SO2 exhibited potential as a good silage preservative when applied at rates of between 0.36 and 0.66% of the forage weight.


1953 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. Dodsworth ◽  
W. H. McK. Campbell

1. A feeding trial is described including four groups of cattle fed on grades I, II and III silages and on swedes, straw and oats respectively.2. The live-weight gains made are recorded, together with the rate of dry-matter intake.3. The efficiency of the dry matter of the diets was calculated.4. All three grades of silage produced a significantly greater rate of fattening than swedes plus straw and oats. There was no significant difference between the fattening values of the three grades of silage.5. The dressing percentages found for 100 silagefed and 71 swede-fed cattle are given. The swedefed cattle yielded a greater average dressing percentage.6. It is suggested that the higher dressing percentage found for root-fed cattle as compared with silage-fed cattle can be attributed to the more rapid elimination of dietary water from the body in rootfed cattle.7. An animal behaviour study is described, the time spent by cattle on the four diets, eating, cudding and lying down, being determined.8. Cattle fed on grass silage spent longer on feeding plus cudding than swede-fed cattle.9. An experiment is described designed to determine the effect of the dry-matter percentage of the diet on the dry-matter intake of ruminants.10. The results indicate that when ruminants are subsisting on a diet consisting solely of succulents, the dry-matter intake is depressed when the dry-matter percentage of the diet falls.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document