Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
10979244 Journal of Dairy Science 2010 5 Pages PDF
Abstract
Twenty Holstein cows were used in a randomized complete block experiment to determine the feeding value of pearl millet silage (MS) for dairy cows relative to corn silage (CS). Two isonitrogenous diets were formulated with a 53:47 forage:concentrate ratio. Pearl millet silage and CS comprised 67% of the forages in each diet. Relative to CS, MS contained higher crude protein (13.0 vs. 9.4%), neutral detergent fiber (66.9 vs. 40.7%), and acid detergent fiber (38.8 vs. 23.9%). Dietary treatments had no effect on dry matter (average = 23.9 kg/d) or crude protein (average = 4.2 kg/d) intake. However, cows fed MS consumed more neutral detergent fiber (9.7 vs. 8.3 kg/d) than did cows fed CS. Silage type had no effect on milk yield (average 38.0 kg/d), whereas energy-corrected milk (43.8 vs. 38.6) and 4% fat-corrected milk (41.8 vs. 35.5 kg/d) were greater for cows fed MS than for those fed CS. Milk protein, lactose, and total solids concentrations were not influenced by dietary treatments. However, cows fed MS produced milk with a greater milk fat concentration (4.17 vs. 3.78%) than did cows fed CS. We concluded that MS, when compared with CS, had a similar effect on feed intake, milk yield, and milk efficiency. Because of increased milk fat concentration, cows fed MS produced more energy-corrected milk than did cows fed CS.
Related Topics
Life Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences Animal Science and Zoology
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