Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T04:53:13.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The voluntary intake by cattle of four silages differing in dry matter content

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

N. Jackson  and
T. J. Forbes
N. Jackson
Affiliation:
Agricultural Chemistry Department, The Queen's University of Belfast and Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland
T. J. Forbes
Affiliation:
The Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co. Down, and The Queen's University of Belfast
Get access

Summary

Herbage from the same timothy/meadow fescue/white clover sward was ensiled at four different dry matter contents. The resulting silages had dry matter contents of 19·0, 27·3, 32·3 and 43·2%, the dry matter content increasing with the length of the wilting period. An experiment was carried out to determine the voluntary intake of the silages. Each silage was given to 7 animals individually, the mean live weight of these being 334 kg.

Although the silages made from wilted herbage were lower in digestibility than that made from unwilted herbage, wilting increased dry matter intake and metabolizable energy (ME) intake. The mean daily intakes of digestible organic matter were 53·0, 58·1, 59·6 and 59·6 g/kg W0·73, for silages of increasing dry matter content. The corresponding ME intakes, expressed as a multiple of the ME requirement for maintenance, were 1·17, 1·29, 1·30 and 1·28. The percentage of acetic acid in the silage dry matter was significantly (r = −0·56) and linearly related to voluntary intake. The relationship between lactic acid concentration and voluntary intake was significantly curvilinear (r = 0·48).

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , November 1970 , pp. 591 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Balch, C. C. and Campling, R. C. 1962. Regulation of voluntary food intake by ruminants. Nutr. Abstr. Rev. 32: 669–686.Google ScholarPubMed
Blaxter, K. L. and Clapperton, J. L. 1965. Prediction of the amount of methane production by ruminants. Br. J. Nutr. 19: 511–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Wainman, F. W. and Davidson, J. L. 1966. The voluntary intake of food by sheep and cattle in relation to their energy requirements for maintenance. Anim. Prod. 8: 75–83.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Wainman, F. W. and Wilson, R. S. 1961. The regulation of food intake by sheep. Anim. Prod. 3: 51–61.Google Scholar
Brown, L. D., Hillman, D., Lassiter, C. A. and Huffman, C. F. 1963. Grass silage vs hay for lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sei. 46: 407–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, S. M. 1962. Changes in milk composition caused by grass silage feeding. Proc. 16th int. Dairy Congr., Copenhagen, pp. 161–170.Google Scholar
Conway, E. J. 1957. Microdiffusion Analysis and Volumetric Error. 4th ed.Crosby Lockwood and Sons Ltd, London.Google Scholar
Dodsworth, T. L. 1954. Further studies on the fattening value of grass silage. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 44: 383–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodsworth, T. L. and Campbell, W. H. McK. 1953. Report on a further experiment to compare the fattening values, for beef cattle, of silage made from grass cut at different stages of growth, together with the results of some supplementary experiments. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 43: 166–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, C. H., Derbyshire, J. C., Jacobson, W. C. and Humphrey, J. L. 1965. Effects of dry matter in low-moisture silage on preservation, acceptability, and feeding value for dairy cows. J. Dairy Sei. 48: 1062–1068.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gordon, C. H., Derbyshire, J. C., Wiseman, H. G., Kane, E. A. and Melin, C. G. 1961. Preservation and feeding value of alfalfa stored as hay, haylage and direct-cut silage. J. Dairy Sci. 44: 1299–1311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halley, R. J. and Dougall, B. M. 1962. The feed intake and performance of dairy cows fed on cut grass. J. Dairy Res. 29: 241–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, C. E., Raymond, W. F. and Wilson, R. F. 1966. The voluntary intake of silage. Proc. 10th int. Grassld Congr., Helsinki, pp. 564–568.Google Scholar
Jackson, R. B. 1964. Volatile bases in ryegrass silage. J. Sei. Fd Agric. 15: 308–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, J. A. M. and Brown, W. O. 1963. Silage and hay for milk production. 2. A comparison of the effects, on the yield and composition of milk, of the ad libitum feeding of high and low dry matter silages, barn-dried hay and field-cured hay. Res. exp. Rec. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ire. 12: 27–38.Google Scholar
Kerr, J. A. M. and Brown, W. O. 1966. The effect of feeding heavily wilted silage to dairy cows on their dry matter intake and on the yield and composition of milk. Res. agric. Rec. Minist. Agric. Nth. Ire. 15: 27–34.Google Scholar
Kerr, J. A. M., Brown, W. O. and Morrison, J. 1961. The nutritive value of grass silage self-fed to fattening cattle. Anim. Prod. 3: 321–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Logan, V. S. and Haydon, P. S. 1964. The effect of moisture content of forage stored in polyvinyl silos on intake and performance of dairy cows. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 44: 125–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCullough, M. E. 1966. The nutritive value of silage as influenced by silage fermentation and ration supplementation. Proc. 10th int. Grassld Congr., Helsinki, pp. 581–584.Google Scholar
Mcdonald, P. and Henderson, A. R. 1964. Determination of water-soluble carbohydrates in grass. J. Sei. Fd Agric. 15: 395–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, J. 1960. Recent developments in the production and feeding of grass silage. Proc. 8th int. Grassld Congr., Reading, pp. 693–697.Google Scholar
Murdoch, J. C. 1960. The effects of pre-wilting herbage on the composition of silage and its intake by cows. J. Br. Grassld Soc. 15: 70–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdoch, J. C. 1964. Some factors affecting the intake of roughage by sheep. J. Br. Grassld Soc. 19: 316–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neumark, H., Bondi, A. and Volcani, R. 1964. Amines, aldehydes and keto-acids in silage and their effect on food intake by ruminants. J. Sei. Fd Agric. 15: 487–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholson, J. W. C. and Parent, R. C. 1957. Various combinations of grass silage and hay for dairy cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sei. 37: 64–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okamoto, M., Waldo, D. R., Miller, R. W. and Moore, L. A. 1964. Histamine levels in forage and dry matter intake of heifers. J. Dairy Sei. 47: 1231–1236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padgitt, D. D., Martz, F. A., Campbell, J. R. and Peet, H. S. 1967. Low and high moisture silage studies with dairy heifers. Bes. Bull. Mo. agric. Exp. Stn, No. 918.Google Scholar
Sykes, J. F., Converse, H. T. and Moore, L. A. 1955. Comparison of alfalfa hay and alfalfa silage as roughage for growing dairy heifers in a limited milk and grain feeding system. J. Dairy Sci. 38: 1246–1256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, J. W., Moore, L. A., Okamoto, M. and Sykes, J. F. 1961. A study of factors affecting rate of intake of heifers fed silage. J. Dairy Sci. 44: 1471–1483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodman, H. E. 1925. Critical examination of the methods employed in silage analysis, with observations on some special chemical characteristics of ‘sour’ silage. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 15: 343–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar