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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
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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

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References

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