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Effects of inclusion levels of pelleted silvergrass ( Miscanthus sinensis Andress.) in the diet on digestibility, chewing activity, ruminal fermentation and blood metabolites in breeding Japanese Black cows
Author(s) -
Asano Keigo,
Ishida Miho,
Ishida Motohiko
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/asj.12665
Subject(s) - latin square , dry matter , nutrient , hay , zoology , biology , fermentation , meal , chemistry , food science , rumen , agronomy , ecology
To examine the effects of inclusion levels of pelleted silvergrass (PS) in the diet on digestibility, ruminal fermentation and nutrient status of breeding Japanese Black cows, four cows were allotted to a 4 × 4 Latin square design experiment. Treatments were control fed a diet consisting of 89.4% Sudangrass hay and 10.6% soybean meal on a dry matter (DM) basis, and PS18, PS27 and PS45 fed the diet replaced with 18%, 27% and 45% of control with PS, respectively. The total digestible nutrients (TDN) content of PS was 45.6% on a DM basis. The TDN intakes were significantly decreased by increasing PS level in the diet ( P < 0.05), but were higher than the TDN requirement of maintenance cows in all treatments. The total chewing time was decreased significantly by increasing PS level in the diets ( P < 0.05). However, the pH and concentration of volatile fatty acid in the ruminal fluid and serum metabolite concentrations were not significantly different among the treatments. The results suggested that including PS up to 45% in the diet did not have adverse effects on the ruminal fermentation and nutrient status in breeding Japanese Black cows at the maintenance stage.