Browsing by Subject "grass silage"

Tiivistelmä/Referat – Abstract The long period of indoor feeding in Finland emphasizes the importance of good quality silage in dairy cow nutrition. Silage additives are used to ensure successful ensiling. Silage inoculants enhance silage lactic acid fermentation when lactic acid bacteria and sometimes enzymes and other fermentative bacteria are added to silage. Lactic acid content has been higher and pH lower in silages treated with inoculant than in silages without any additive. Aerobic stability of silage and total mixed ration (TMR) has been better with silage treated using inoculant compared to silage without additives. In some studies, the digestibility of dry matter and organic matter has been better with inoculant-treated silage. Silage dry matter intake has been improved with silage treated with inoculants in studies performed with dairy cows, growing beef cattle and sheep. Milk yield has increased in some studies with biological additive when compared to silage without additives. The aim of this study was to examine whether ensiling grass silage with biological additive influences feed intake or milk production of dairy cows in comparison to silage without inoculant. The study was conducted at the research farm of University of Helsinki. First cut timothy – meadow fescue sward was cut and wilted for 46 hours. The grass was harvested in round bales wrapped with 8 film layers either using silage inoculant (treatment B, with lactic acid bacteria and enzymes) or without additive (treatment A). A series of five bales of each silage were prepared one after another. The grass had dry matter of 183 g/kg before wilting and 328 g/kg after wilting. Water soluble carbohydrate concentration was 121 g/kg dry matter (DM). The silages were stored for 174 days before the beginning of the feeding trial. There were no differences in silage fermentation quality. Both silages had high concentration of lactic acid (100 g/kg DM). The dry matter contents were 296 and 294 g/kg and pH 4.25 and 4.31 for the inoculated silage and the silage without additive, respectively. Eight Finnish Ayrshire cows (95 days in milk, standard deviation 25.9) of second or later parity were used. The cows were kept in tie stalls during the trial. A double-reversal design was used with two treatments sequences (ABBA or BAAB) of 21 days each. The cows were fed with total mixed ration consisting of 65% (dry matter basis) of silage (inoculated or without additive), 20% of concentrate mixture, 13% rapeseed meal and 1.5% mineral supplement. Dry matter intake was 1,1 kg/d higher with the inoculated silage (p=0.01) than with untreated silage. Digestibility of dietary dry matter (p=0.02) and organic matter (p=0.02) was lower with inoculated than untreated silage. There was no difference in milk production between treatments (p=0.65). This study indicates that good fermentation quality of wilted (DM 300 g kg) grass silage can be achieved without additives. The increased dry matter intake or the lower digestibility of the diet containing inoculated silage cannot be explained by the silage composition or fermentation profile.

The feeding behavior of beef cattle is complex and varies depending on different factors such as the nutritive value of the feed, the individual and the environment. By optimizing and improving the feed efficiency, the economics of the production increases. Knowledge of feed intake and feeding behavior can be used to optimize the production and the health and well-being of the animals. The aim of this study was to determine how the cut of grass silage affects the feeding behaviour of bulls and thereby how to optimize the use of silage for animal growth. Simmental bulls got three different silage cuts. The first cut was taken on 25th June (ES1), the second cut on 11th August (ES2) and the third cut on 3rd October (ES3). The feeding was given as total mixed ration (TMR) ad libitum. Each TMR group had 15 bulls (TES1, TES2, TES3). Each TMR group had a diet based on grass silage (550 g/kg DM), the only difference being if the silage was of the first, second or third cut. That way the nutritive value differed among the TMR. Individual information about duration, when, and how much the bulls ate was recorded by the Growsafesystem. The average for the bulls in the feeding groups was calculated based on the individual data. This Master´s thesis researched feed intake, feeding frequency, time for head down, time for feed intake and feed intake rate during one month when the body weight of the bulls was on average 546 kg in the beginning and 607 kg at the end of the study. The dry matter for the three cuts was 201 g/kg for ES1, 298 g/kg for ES2 and 354 g/kg for ES3. D-value was 719, 685 and 739 g/kg DM, respectively. The bulls that ate ES3 had higher dry matter intake (12,1 kg DM/d) and eating rate (94,9 g DM/min) than the two other groups. The bulls that ate ES1 and ES2 had the same feed utilization, which was better than the feed utuilization of the bulls that were given ES3. Feeding frequency was about 15 times per day for all groups. The second cut had the lowest digestibility and the bulls eating the second cut had the longest feed intake time. The bulls that ate the third cut had the highest dry matter intake, but the lowest feed utilization. The study indicates that the D-value of the grass silage used in TMR has a clear impact on dry matter intake of the TMR and eating time and eating rate of the animal.