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Silage and milk production: comparisons between hays of different digestibilities as silage supplements
Author(s) -
RETTER W. C.,
CASTLE M. E.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1982.tb01588.x
Subject(s) - silage , hay , zoology , ruminating , alfalfa hay , milk production , forage , food science , biology , chemistry , agronomy , rumen , fermentation , rumination , cognition , neuroscience
In three separate feeding experiments using a total of thirty individually‐housed Ayrshire cows three silages made from perennial ryegrass were given ad libitum together with supplements of four different hays in the long form. The in vitro D‐values of the silages ranged from 0·298 to 0·283, and the hays from 0·280 to 0·200. The daily intake of hay DM varied from 0·2 to 4·2 kg per cow and was given either without or with a daily maximum of 2·2 kg concentrate DM containing 379–527 g CP per kg DM. On average, 1 kg hay DM decreased silage intake by 0·24 kg DM with a range of 0·21–1·20 kg. The hay supplements had only small and non‐significant effects on total DM intake, milk yield and milk composition, but increased the daily intake of drinking water. In three behavioural studies, the eating and ruminating times expressed as min per kg DM did not differ significantly between the various supplement treatments. It is concluded that hay has only a marginal value as a supplement for grass silage, although the hay could serve as a useful ‘buffer’ feed if the amount of silage was limited.