Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T19:26:10.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prediction of the voluntary intake potential of grass silage by sheep and dairy cows from laboratory silage measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

N. W. Offer ,
D. S. Percival ,
R. J. Dewhurst  and
C. Thomas
N. W. Offer
Affiliation:
Grassland and Ruminant Science Department, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr KA6 5HW
D. S. Percival
Affiliation:
Grassland and Ruminant Science Department, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr KA6 5HW
R. J. Dewhurst
Affiliation:
Grassland and Ruminant Science Department, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr KA6 5HW
C. Thomas
Affiliation:
Grassland and Ruminant Science Department, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr KA6 5HW
Get access

Abstract

Ninety-four silages were made over 5 years from predominantly perennial ryegrass swards using a range of cutting dates (19 May to 18 September), wilting periods (0 to 48 h) and additives (none, acids, inoculants, sugar, sugar + acids, sugar + inoculants). A wide range of silage composition was achieved (CV for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), digestible organic matter (DOMD), lactic acid, total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and sugar were 0–2. Silage dry-matter intake (SDMI) was measured for 88 silages using lambs (mean live weight (M) 28 kg) given silage as their sole diet in four incomplete block design experiments using four lambs per silage and a standard hay given every third period for covariance correction. Thirty-four of the silages were also evaluated using early lactation cows (M, 561 kg and milk yield 27 kg/day) with 7 kg/day of concentrate in eight incomplete block change-over experiments each using 12 cows.

Intakes (SDMI mean, range, s.d. glkg M075) were 56, 25 to 84, 13·7 for lambs and 90, 64 to 119, 13·4 for cows. Scaling lamb SDMI by M1'47 accounted best for the effect of lamb weight on intake (mean, range 5·07, 2·43 to 7·68). Silage predictors were grouped as follows: traditional values (BASAL) - DM, CP, organic matter (OM), DOMD,

neutral-detergent fibre (NDF), acid-detergent fibre (ADF), ammonia nitrogen (NH3N), pH, acid hydrolysed ether extract (AHEE); silage fermentation values obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); or by electrometric titration (ET); and near infra-red reflectance spectra (NIRS) obtained on either 100°C dried (NIRSdry) orfreshsamples (NIRSwetl using a vertical transport mechanism and NIRSwet2 using a rotating cup). The most useful predictors within each group were firstly identified by step-wise multiple linear regression and models were then derived by partial least squares.

Standard errors of cross validation (SECV) obtained by the ‘leave one out’ method were for lamb SDMI (g/M1·47) 0·81, 0·81, 0·75, 0·52, 0·82 and 0·56 for BASAL, BASAL + HPLC, BASAL + ET, NIRSdry, NIRSwetl and NIRSwet2 respectively. Corresponding values for cows (g/M0·75) were 7·3, 7·3, 5·9, 5·1, 6·2, and 2·5. Inclusion of fermentation measurements made by ET, but not by HPLC, improved SDMI prediction over that obtainedfromthe BASAL set. However, NIRSdry and NIRSwet2 were the most accurate methods giving values for s.d. (reference population)ISECV of 2·27 and 2·13 for lambs and 2·65 and 5·28 for dairy cows. Use of these methods in advisory silage evaluation should substantially reduce the errors of predicting the intake potential ofgrass silages.

Keywords

cowsfood intakeNIRSsheepsilage
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , April 1998 , pp. 357 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1998

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

Agricultural and Food Research Council. 1991. AFRC Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients. Report number 8. Voluntary intake of cattle. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews (Series B) 61: 815–823.Google Scholar
Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The nutrient requirements of ruminant livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Apolant, S. M. and Chestnutt, D. M. B. 1985. The effect of mechanical treatment of silage on intake and production of sheep Animal Production 40:287–296.Google Scholar
Barnes, R. J., Dhanoa, M. S. and Lister, S. J. 1989. Standard normal variate transformation and de-trending of near infra-red diffuse reflectance spectra. Applied Spectroscopy 43: 771–777.Google Scholar
Bines, J. A. 1985. Feeding systems and food intake by housed dairy cows Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 44: 355–362.Google Scholar
Cushnahan, A., Gordon, F. J., Ferris, C. P. W., Chestnutt, D. M. B. and Mayne, C. S. 1994. The use of sheep as a model to predict the relative intakes of silages by dairy cattle Animal Production 59: 415–420.Google Scholar
Dewar, W. A. and McDonald, P. 1961. Determination of dry matter in silage by distillation with toluene Journal of the Science ofFood and Agriculture 12: 790–795.Google Scholar
Dewhurst, R. J., Mitton, A. M., Offer, N. W. and Thomas, C. 1996. Effects of compositions of grass silages on milk production and nitrogen utilization by dairy cows Animal Science 62: 25–34.Google Scholar
Dulphy, J. P. 1980. The intake of conserved forages. In Forage conservation in the 80's (ed. Thomas, C.), symposium of the British Grassland Society, no. 11, pp. 107–121.Google Scholar
Forbes, J. M. 1995. In Voluntary food intake and diet selection in farm animals, pp. 384–415. CAB International, Wallingford.Google Scholar
Gordon, F. J. 1982. The effects of degree of chopping grass for silage and method of concentrate allocation on the performance of dairy cows Grass and Forage Science 37: 59–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawes Agricultural Trust. 1987. Genstat 5 reference manual. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Lewis, M. 1981. Equations for predicting silage intake by beef and dairy cattle. Proceedings of the sixth silage Edinburgh, pp. 35–36.Google Scholar
McDonald, P., Henderson, A. R. and Heron, S. J. E. 1991. In The biochemistry of silage, p. 268. Chalcombe Publications, Marlow, UK.Google Scholar
Mayne, C. S., Agnew, R. E., Patterson, D. C., Steen, R. W. J., Gordon, F. J., Kilpatrick, D. J. and Unsworth, E. F. 1995. An examination of possible interactions between silage type and concentrate composition on the intake characteristics of grass silage offered to growing cattle and dairy cows. Animal Science 60: 514 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Neal, H. D. St C., Thomas, C. and Cobby, J. M. 1984. Comparison of equations for predicting voluntary intake by dairy cows. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103: 1–10.Google Scholar
Offer, N. W. 1997. A comparison of the effects on voluntary intake by sheep of dietary addition of either silage juices or lactic acid solutions of the same neutralizing value Animal Science 64: 331–337.Google Scholar
Offer, N. W., Cottrill, B. R. and Thomas, C. 1996a. The relationship between silage evaluation and animal response. Proceedings of the 11th international silage University of Wales, Aberystwyth, pp. 26–38.Google Scholar
Offer, N. W., Dewhurst, R. J. and Thomas, C. 1994. The use of electrometric titration to improve the routine prediction of silage intake by lambs and dairy cows. Animal Production 58: 427 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Offer, N. W. and Percival, D. S. 1998. The prediction of rumen fermentation characteristics in sheep fed grass silage diets Animal Science 66:163–173.Google Scholar
Offer, N. W., Percival, D. S., Deaville, E. R. and Piotrowski, C. 1996b. The potential for advisory silage analysis to be carried out entirely by near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy. Proceedings of the 11th international silage conference, Aberystwyth.Google Scholar
Offer, N. W., Rooke, J. A., Dewhurst, R. J. and Thomas, C. 1993. Rapid assessment of silage fermentation characteristics by electrometric titration. Animal Production 56: 423 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Offer, N. W., Thomas, C. and Dewhurst, R. J. 1995. Validation of advisory models for the prediction of voluntary intake of grass silage by lambs and dairy cows. Animal Science 60: 515 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Orr, R. J. and Treacher, T. T. 1989. The effect of concentrate level on the intake of grass silages by ewes in late pregnancy Animal Production 48:109–120.Google Scholar
Orr, R. J. and Treacher, T. T. 1990. Intakes of silages, hays and straws by ewes in mid pregnancy Animal Production 51: 301–310.Google Scholar
Orr, R. J. and Treacher, T. T. 1994. The effect of concentrate level on the intakes of silages or hays by ewes in the 1st month of lactation Animal Production 58:109–116.Google Scholar
Percival, D. S., Offer, N. W. and Thomas, C. 1996. The use of near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to predict voluntary intake of grass silage by lambs and dairy cows. Animal Science 62: 680 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Rook, A. J., Dhanoa, M. S. and Gill, M. 1990a. Prediction of the voluntary intake of grass silages by beef cattle. 2. Principal component and ridge regression analyses. Animal Production 50: 439–454.Google Scholar
Rook, A. J., Dhanoa, M. S. and Gill, M. 1990b. Prediction of the voluntary intake of grass silages by beef cattle. 3. Precision of alternative prediction models. Animal Production 50: 455–466.Google Scholar
Rook, A. J. and Gill, M. 1990. Prediction of the voluntary intake of grass silages by beef cattle. 1. Linear regression analyses. Animal Production 50: 425–438.Google Scholar
Rook, A. J., Gill, M., Wilkins, R. D. and Lister, S. J. 1991. Prediction of the voluntary intake of grass silages by lactating dairy cows offered concentrates at a flat rate. Animal Production 52: 407–420.Google Scholar
Rooke, J. A. 1995. The effect of increasing the acidity or osmolality of grass silage by the addition of free or partially neutralized lactic acid on silage intake by sheep and upon osmolality and acid-base balance Animal Science 61: 285–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rooke, J. A., Borman, A. J. and Armstrong, D. G. 1990. The effect of inoculation with Lactobacillus plantarum on fermentation in laboratory silos of herbage low in water soluble carbohydrate Grass and Forage Science 45:143–152.Google Scholar
Sinnaeve, G., Dardenne, P., Agnessens, R. and Biston, R. 1994. The use of near infrared spectroscopy for the analysis of fresh grass silage. Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy 79–84.Google Scholar
Steen, R. W. J., Gordon, F. J., Dawson, L. E. R., Park, R. S., Mayne, C. S., Agnew, R. E., Kilpatrick, D. J. and Porter, M. G. 1998. Factors affecting the intake of grass silage by cattle and prediction of silage intake Animal Science 66: 115–127.Google Scholar
Steen, R. W. J., Gordon, F. J., Mayne, C. S., Poots, R. E., Kilpatrick, D. J., Unsworth, E. F., Barnes, R. J., Porter, M. G. and Pippard, C. J. 1995. Prediction of the intake of grass silage by cattle. In Recent advances in animal nutrition (ed. Garnsworthy, P. C. and Cole, D. J. A.), pp. 67–89. Nottingham University Press.Google Scholar
Vadiveloo, J. and Holmes, W. 1979. The prediction of voluntary intake of dairy cows, journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 93: 553–562.Google Scholar
Wilkins, R. J., Hutchinson, K. J., Wilson, R. F. and Harris, C. E. 1971. The voluntary intake of silage by sheep. 1. Interrelationships between silage composition and intake. journal ofAgricultural Science, Cambridge 77: 531–537.Google Scholar