Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T16:23:40.438Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Milk production from silage 4. The effect of the composition of the supplement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

C. Thomas
Affiliation:
Animal and Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
K. Aston
Affiliation:
Animal and Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
S. R. Daley
Affiliation:
Animal and Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
Jacqueline Bass
Affiliation:
Animal and Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
Get access

Abstract

Primary growths of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) were cut on 22 May and 12 June and wilted for 24 h prior to ensiling. A 40: 60 mixture of the two silages was offered ad libitum with two pelleted supplements. Supplement Ba was a mixture of (dry matter (DM) basis) 932 g rolled barley and 68 g fish meal per kg. Supplement SBP/FF consisted of 555 g unmolassed beet pulp, 314 g extracted rice bran, 56 g fat prills and 75 g soya-bean meal per kg. The factorial combination of the two supplements (Ba and SBP/FF) given at two levels, 6 kg DM (L) or 12 kg DM (H), provided the four treatments imposed over weeks 3 to 10 of lactation on 40 British Friesian cows. During weeks 12 to 20 of lactation (post-experiment period) the cows were given an equal mixture of the two concentrates at 9 kg DM per day.

Supplement Ba contained less ash (31 v. 94 g/kg), acid-detergent fibre (68 v. 218 g/kg) and fat (29 v. 77 g/kg) but more starch (558 v. 89 g/kg) and digestible organic matter in the dry matter in vitro (DOMD) (781 v. 627 g/kg) than SBP/FF. The concentration of total nitrogen (N) was similar at 25·6 g/kg. Silage had a DOMD of 643 g/kg, a pH of 3·8 and proportionately 0·82 of fermentation acids as lactic acid.

Apparent digestibility of gross energy was higher for Ba diets (0·748) than for SBP/FF (0·704). Cows given SBP/FF ate 0·9 kg more silage DM than those given Ba (P < 0·01) but there was no difference in digestible energy intake or in substitution rate (−0·37 kg silage DM per kg additional supplement DM). Increasing the amount of supplement increased milk yield by 3·9 kg/day (P < 0·001). Cows given SBP/FF yielded on average 1·6 kg more milk than those given Ba (P < 0·05). However, this increased output consisted almost entirely of lactose and water as a result of a high concentration of fat in the milk of cows given Ba at the low level (46·3 g/kg). Further, the concentration of protein was less with SBP/FF (28·0 g/kg) than with Ba (29·2 g/kg).

The effects of SBP/FF in early lactation were translated into a positive residual effect in mid lactation equivalent to the immediate effect. In contrast, raising yield by increasing the amount of supplement did not result in increased output subsequently. The results show that a supplement of fibre and fat despite having a lower digestibility than barley can produce more milk but a similar yield of fat and protein provided silage is offered ad libitum.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1986

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

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, A. N. and Sleiman, F. T. 1971. Beet pulp as a grain replacement for dairy cows and sheep. J. Dairy Sci. 54: 8994.Google Scholar
Broster, W. H. and Broster, Valerie J. 1984. Reviews of the progress of dairy science. Long-term effects of plane of nutrition on the performance of the dairy cow. J. Dairy Res. 51: 149196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broster, W. H., Broster, Valerie J. and Smith, T. 1969. Experiments on the nutrition of the dairy heifer. VIII. Effect on milk production of level of feeding at two stages of the lactation. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 72: 229245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broster, W. H. and Thomas, C. 1981. The influence of level and pattern of concentrate input on milk output. In Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition — 1981 (ed. Haresign, W.), pp. 4969. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Castle, M. E., Gill, M. S. and Watson, J. N. 1981. Silage and milk production: a comparison between barley and dried sugar beet pulp as silage supplements. Grass Forage Sci. 36: 319324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chamberlain, D. G., Thomas, P. C., Wilson, Wilma D., Kassem, M. E. and Robertson, S. 1984. The influence of the type of carbohydrate in the supplementary concentrate on the utilization of silage diets for milk production. Proc. 7th Silage Conf. Queen's Univ., Belfast (ed. Gordon, F. J. and Unsworth, E. F.), pp. 3738.Google Scholar
Clancy, M. J. and Wilson, R. K. 1966. Development and application of a new chemical method for predicting the digestibility and intake of herbage samples. Proc. 10th int. Grassld Cong. Helsinki, pp. 445453.Google Scholar
De Visser, H. and De Groot, A. A. M. 1981. The influence of the starch and sugar content of concentrates on feed intake, rumen fluid, production and composition of milk. In Metabolic Disorders in Farm Animals (ed. Giesecke, D., Dirksen, G. and Stangassinger, M.), pp. 4148. Veterinary Institute, University of Munich.Google Scholar
El-Shazly, K., Dehority, B. A. and Johnson, R. R. 1961. Effect of starch on the digestion of cellulose in vitro and in vivo by rumen microorganisms. J. Anim. Sci. 20: 268273.Google Scholar
Gordon, F. J. 1984. The effect of level of concentrate supplementation given with grass silage during the winter on the total lactation performance of autumncalving dairy cows. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 102: 163179.Google Scholar
MacGregor, C. A., Stokes, M. R., Hoover, W. H., Leonard, H. A., Junkins, L. L. Jr, Sniffen, C. J. and Mailman, R. W. 1983. Effect of dietary concentration of total nonstructural carbohydrate on energy and nitrogen metabolism and milk production of dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 66: 3950.Google Scholar
Mayne, C. S. and Gordon, F. J. 1984. The effect of type of concentrate and level of concentrate feeding on milk production. Anim. Prod. 39: 6576.Google Scholar
Neal, Heather D. St C., Thomas, C. and Cobby, J. M. 1984. Comparison of equations for predicting voluntary intake by dairy cows. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 103: 110.Google Scholar
Oldham, J. D., Napper, D. J., Smith, T. and Fulford, Rosemary J. 1985. Performance of dairy cows offered isonitrogenous diets containing urea or fishmeal in early and in mid-lactation. Br. J. Nutr. 53: 337345.Google Scholar
Rook, J. A. F. and Line, C. 1961. The effect of the plane of energy nutrition fo the cow on the secretion in milk of the constituents of the solids-not-fat fraction and on the concentrations of certain blood-plasma constituents. Br. J. Nutr. 15: 109119.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. D. 1984. Feeding and milk fat production. In Milk Compositional Quality and its Importance in Future Markets (ed. Castle, M. E. and Gunn, R. G.), Occ. Publ. Br. Soc. Anim. Prod., No. 9, pp. 4352.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. D., Bines, J. A. and Napper, D. J. 1985. Comparison of starchy and fibrous concentrates for lactating dairy cows. Anim. Prod. 40: 533 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Terry, R. A. and Outen, G. E. 1973. The determination of cell wall constituents in barley and maize. Chemy Ind., pp. 11161117.Google Scholar
Thomas, C., Aston, K. and Daley, S. R. 1985. Milk production from silage. 3. A comparison of red clover with grass silage. Anim. Prod. 41: 2331.Google Scholar
Thomas, C., Aston, K., Tayler, J. C., Daley, S. R. and Osbourn, D. F. 1981a. Milk production from silage. 1. The influence of an additive containing formaldehyde and formic acid on the response of lactating heifers and cows to supplementary protein. Anim. Prod. 32: 285295.Google Scholar
Thomas, C., Daley, S. R., Aston, K. and Hughes, P. M. 1981b. Milk production from silage. 2. The influence of digestibility of silage made from the primary growth of perennial ryegrass. Anim. Prod. 33: 713.Google Scholar
Thomas, P. C. 1984. Feeding and milk protein production. In Milk Compositional Quality and its Importance in Future Markets (ed. Castle, M. E. and Gunn, R. G.), Occ. Publ. Br. Soc. Anim. Prod., No. 9, pp. 5367.Google Scholar