The effect of homofermentative and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria on conservation characteristics of baled triticale–Hungarian vetch silage and lamb performance

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of two homofermentative lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (two strains of Lactobacillus plantarum and multi-strain of homofermentative LAB + enzyme mixture) and a heterofermentative LAB (two strains of Lactobacillus buchneri) on conservation characteristics of baled triticale–Hungarian vetch silage and lamb performance. Triticale–Hungarian vetch mixture was mowed at milk stage of maturity of triticale. The herbage was wilted to 473 g/kg dry matter (DM), treated with LAB additives at 1.0 × 106 cfu/g and baled. Bales were wrapped with six layers of plastic white stretch-film and stored outdoor for 3 months. The control and inoculated silages were preserved well at pH values of between 4.5 and 4.6 with low concentration of butyric acid, moderately low concentration of ammonia-N and low count of yeast and mould. The homofermentative LAB either used alone or in combination with enzyme mixture had little effect on preservation characteristics of baled silages. However, L. buchneri had a more profound effect on the final fermentation products of baled silage and improved the standard of preservation with the apparently difficult-to-preserve herbage used in this experiment. Inoculation with L. buchneri resulted in silage with higher (P<0.05) concentration of acetic and propionic acid and lower (P<0.05) concentration of lactic acid and water soluble carbohydrates (WSC). Aerobic stability was the longest (P<0.05) in silage treated with L. buchneri, but it was the shortest (P<0.05) in silages treated with L. plantarum. Lambs fed with the silages treated with L. buchneri had higher (P<0.01) silage and total intake. There was no (P>0.05) treatment effect on any variables measured on rumen fluid. It can be concluded that L. buchneri can offer to make bale conditions more inhibitory to activities of undesirable microorganism and may positively affect the feeding value of silages.