scholarly journals Round baled grass silage as food for reindeer in winter

Rangifer ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tove H. Aagnes ◽  
Svein D. Mathiesen

Round baled silage of mixed grasses was tested as emergency food for reindeer in winter. The silage was made of leaf rich regrowth of Phleum pratense, Agrostis tenuis and Poa spp. It contained 33-3% dry matter (DM), and 14.8 % crude protein, 24.5% cellulose and 26.7% hemicellulose on a DM basis. Palatability, food intake, digestion, rumen fermentation, body mass (BM), carcass weight and gastrointestinal (GI) anatomy were investigated. A group of adult female reindeer (n = 38), were taken from natural winter pasture and fed grass silage ad libitum. The majority (78%) of the animals were eating silage after two days and 95% of the animals ate silage after five days. Five reindeer calves were taken from natural winter pasture and fed lichens ad libitum for 14 days after which they were starved for two days before being offered silage adlibitum. The median daily DM food intake was 370 g (range 250-610 g) on the first day increasing to 810 g (range 530-1100 g) at days 16 to 20. Median apparent digestibility coefficient (DC) of DM was 64.3% (range 62.4-66.2%). The median in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) of the silage after 72 h of microbial digestion was 68.3 % (range 66.6-71.3 %) (Ws=30, n,=5, n2=4, P<0.01). Median ruminal VFA concentration and pH were 48.2 mM (range 38.4-52.5 mM) and 7.0 (range 6.95-7.17), respectively, in the reindeer calves (n=5). BM initially increased when the reindeer calves were fed silage, but stabilised after 11 days. The increased BM may have been due to an increased recticulo-rumen digesta load, which amounted to 19.6-23.7 % of BM (n=3). The carcass weight of the reindeer calves was 42.6-44.2% of the BM (n=3) after 47 days of silage feeding. The results indicate that although the round bale silage of mixed grasses of medium quality was highly palatable to reindeer it was apparantly of only limited value as an emergency food for the reindeer calves, as indicated by low DC of DM and low ruminal VFA concentration.

1996 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Aagnes ◽  
A. S. Blix ◽  
S. D. Mathiesen

SUMMARYReindeer calves(Rangifer tarandus tarandus) were used in parallel feeding trials with two different qualities of round-bale timothy silage in September 1992 (summer) and April 1993 (winter) in northern Norway, to determine the effect of season on their food intake and ability to utilize silage of different fibre contents. The silages were prepared from first-cut (FC) and regrowth (RG) timothy. The FC silage contained (on a dry matter (DM) basis) 12·3% crude protein, 30·4% cellulose and 6·2% water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), whereas the RG silage contained 14·3% crude protein, 18·7% cellulose and 30·0% WSC. For each trial, six male calves were taken directly from a natural range and divided into two groups of three animals. One group was offered FC silage and one RG silagead libitum, for 46 days. Mean daily DM food intake (g/kg liveweight) was not significantly different in summer compared to winter(P> 0·05), but significantly higher in the animals fed RG silage compared to the animals fed FC silage (P< 0·0001). The apparent digestibility coefficient of DM was high for both silages both in summer and winter, ranging from 74·4 to 86·6%. However, the digestibility in winter was significantly higher than in summer(P< 0·002) and the digestibility of RG silage was higher than that of the FC silage (P< 0·009). The ruminal VFA concentration was significantly higher in winter than in summer (P< 0·03) and in the animals fed RG silage (range 55·3–104·9 mM) compared to the animals fed FC silage (range 35·2–61·7 mM) (P< 0·002). In spite of the high digestibility of both the FC and RG silages, the nitrogen balance was significantly higher in the animals in winter compared to summer(P< 0·0001) and in the animals fed RG silage compared to the animals fed FC silage(P< 0·0001). Thus, utilization of grass silage in reindeer appears to be influenced both by season and by plant quality.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. PURSIAINEN ◽  
M. TUORI

The effect of replacing wilted grass silage (GS) with pea-barley intercrop silage (PBS) on feed intake, diet digestibility and milk production was studied with 8 multiparous Ayrshire-cows in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square experiment. Proportion of PBS was 0 (PBS0), 33 (PBS33), 67 (PBS67) or 100 (PBS100) % of silage dry matter (DM). The DM content was 559 and 255 g kg-1 for GS and PBS. Crude protein content was 131 and 170 g kg-1 DM, respectively. Pea-barley silage was more extensively fermented than GS with total fermentation acid content of 120 vs. 12 g kg-1 DM. Silage was fed for ad libitum intake and supplemented with on the average 13 kg concentrate per day. Silage DM intake was 9.2 (PBS0), 9.7 (PBS33), 9.0 (PBS67) and 7.1 (PBS100) kg per day (Pquadr. < 0.05). The energy corrected milk yield [30.3 (PBS0), 29.8 (PBS33), 30.3 (PBS67), 31.3 (PBS100) kg per day] was not significantly affected by the treatment. Milk protein concentration decreased linearly (P < 0.05) in response to feeding PBS. It is concluded that PBS can replace up to two thirds of wilted, moderate quality GS in the feeding of dairy cows because in this experiment pure pea-barley silage reduced silage intake.


1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (124) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
BA McGregor

Kids six months old and of mean liveweight 22 kg were offered a basal ration of barley and lupins (crude protein 15 .4%) supplemented with three levels of chopped hay (0, 13% of total intake and ad libitum). Supplementation of the basal ration with 13% hay increased total dry matter intake from 479 to 753 g/d (P< 0.001) and liveweight gain from 10 to 54 g/d (P<0 .01). Non-significant increases in total food intake and liveweight gains were achieved by supplementing with ad libitum hay; kids fed ad libitum hay actually consumed 26.9% of their diet as hay. They were then offered various mixtures of barley, oats and lupins with 13% chopped hay at near ad libitum feeding. Differences in intake or growth were not significant at P= 0.05 with kids growing at 74, 65 and 101 g/d for those fed barley, oats and lupins respectively. Results indicate that highest food intake was obtained when 13% chopped hay was added to whole barley grain rations.


1988 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 711-721
Author(s):  
Pekka Huhtanen ◽  
Hannele Ala-Seppälä ◽  
Matti Näsi

A duplicated 4 x 4 Latin Square experiment was conducted to determine the effects of a gradually increased level of barley fibre in the diet on ad libitum grass silage intake and milk production. Barley fibre is a fibrous ethanol-starch by-product (120 g crude protein, 550 g neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and 120 g starch/kg dry matter (DM)). The four supplements, given at the rate of 6.5 kg/d on DM basis, were barley (B) and barley of which 333 g/kg (BF), 667 g/kg (FB) and 1000 g/kg (F) were replaced by barley fibre. In addition the cows were given 1 kg of rapeseed meal and 0.25 kg of mineral mixture. As the proportion of barley fibre in the diet increased there was a linear (P


1974 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. T. KUNELIUS ◽  
L. B. MACLEOD ◽  
F. W. CALDER

Climax timothy (Phleum pratense L.), Saratoga bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.), and Frode orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata L.) were harvested over a 3-yr period at eight developmental stages of primary growth and aftermath after a 40–64-day regrowth interval. Total dry matter (DM) yields generally increased up to flowering and ranged from 4,370 to 11,840 kg/ha, depending on grass species, cutting management, and season. Aftermath DM rarely exceeded 3,500 kg/ha. The stage of development at initial harvest had only a limited influence on aftermath production. Within the season, orchard grass had a more uniform yield distribution than timothy or bromegrass. The yield distribution of the three grasses was most uniform where the initial harvest was taken at the immature stages of development. Stand persistence was satisfactory under all cutting managements. Per cent in vitro digestible dry matter (IVD) of primary growth ranged from 76.5 to 37.0. In the 2nd and 3rd yr, decline in IVD of primary growth averaged 0.69, 0.66, and 0.82% per day for timothy, bromegrass, and orchard grass, respectively, over a 24-day period. In the 1st yr, this decline was somewhat higher. The IVD of aftermath tended to be higher when the regrowth period was shortest, although this was inconsistent, particularly for timothy and bromegrass. Total digestible DM yields increased up to heading stage. Percent crude protein (CP) of primary growth ranged from 18.2 to 7.1 under various cutting managements and decreased at an average daily rate of 0.33–0.37. Percent CP of aftermath ranged from 15.0 to 9.6. Longer regrowth periods generally resulted in lower percent CP. Cutting management had little effect on average seasonal CP yields.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 280 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. SAIRANEN ◽  
H. KHALILI ◽  
P. VIRKAJÄRVI

Cows were assigned randomly to indoor silage feeding (with 2 h outdoor exercise) or part-time grazing treatment in two different experiments. One group was kept in confinement with ad libitum grass silage within each experiment. The other group had ad libitum grass silage indoors and they were put out on grass pasture during part of the 24 hour period, 12 hours (night, Experiment 1) and 6 hours (day, Experiment 2) in June, July and August. In Experiment 2, the concentrate (9 kg d-1) was given at two crude protein levels: high crude protein [185 g kg-1 dry matter (DM)] and low crude protein (135 g kg-1 DM). In Experiment 1, night-time grazing increased total DM intake and milk (3.9 kg d-1) production. There was interaction between month and forage feeding strategy, the difference in milk yield being smallest between treatments in June. In Experiment 2, day-time grazing had no significant main effect on milk production but there was significant interaction between month and forage feeding strategy showing 2.5 kg d-1 difference between treatments in July. High-protein concentrate tended to increase the milk yield more on the silage diet compared with the group grazing during daytime. .The differences in milk yield between the forage feeding treatments were mainly due to the higher dry matter intake and higher metabolizable energy content of the pasture grass compared with silage. The lower milk responses to concentrate crude protein in the cows grazing during daytime compared with the silage group indicate a high protein value of pasture grass. It is concluded that part-time grazing increases the milk yield and decreases the need for supplementary concentrate protein.;


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1123-1134
Author(s):  
Arto Huuskonen ◽  
Maiju Pesonen ◽  
Erkki Joki-Tokola

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.


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.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 977-982
Author(s):  
J.B. Luz ◽  
D.I. Gomes ◽  
E.R. Santos Neta ◽  
R. Mezzomo ◽  
L.R.S. Oliveira ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the partial replacement of elephant grass silage with babassu (Orbignya speciosa) on the performance, intake, digestibility, and carcass weight gain of sheep. Fifty-four castrated male lambs (19.08±2.76kg) were distributed in a completely randomized design and administered one of the following treatments: 0.0, 12.5, 25.0, 37.5 or 50% dry matter (%DM) replacement of elephant grass silage with babassu cake. No difference (P> 0.05) was observed in the dry matter, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber intake, but the ether extract intake increased (P< 0.05). The digestibility of the dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and total digestible nutrients were unaffected. The crude protein digestibility decreased (P< 0.05), and the ether extract digestibility increased with the replacement of the elephant grass. There were no changes in mean daily weight gain and carcass weight gain. In the carcasses, a linear increase was observed in the proportion of the ether extract, and the crude protein decreased. The replacement of the silage with the babassu cake by up to 50% did not change the performance of sheep, however it led to an increase in fat deposit in the carcass.


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