|
|
||||||||
1 Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108
2 West Central Experiment Station, University of Minnesota, Morris 56267
3 Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108 and USDA-Agricultural Research Service, St. Paul, MN 55108
4 Mycogen Seeds, Eagan, MN 55121
Three corn hybrids were harvested as silage and fed to lactating dairy cows to determine performance and digestibility differences between hybrids. Corn hybrids were a grain type, a generic blend, and a leafy type. Starch content of the grain, blend, and leafy silage hybrids was 26.1, 23.8, and 23.5%, respectively. In vitro digestible dry matter of the leafy hybrid silage (69.2%) was higher than the grain (66.8%) or blend (66.7%) hybrid silage. Sixty-two Holstein cows (39 primiparous and 23 multiparous) were fed diets containing (dry matter basis) 40.6% of one of the corn silages, 10.2% alfalfa haylage, 23.5% corn grain, 7.4% whole-fuzzy cottonseed, 13.8% protein concentrate, and 4.5% vitamin and mineral mix. Cows were assigned to their silage treatment diet 3 d after parturition and remained on the diet until wk 22 of lactation. Dry matter intake, milk yield, and milk components did not differ for cows fed the grain, leafy, or generic blend silage diets for either parity group. Digestibilities of dry matter, organic matter, and neutral detergent fiber, and rate of passage were not different across the silage diets for either parity. Multiparous cows receiving the blend silage diet lost more weight throughout the 22-wk study than did cows on the leafy or grain silage diets. Primiparous cows receiving the blend silage diet spent more time eating than cows on either the grain or leafy silage diet. Time spent chewing did not differ among hybrids. Corn hybrid at 40% of dietary dry matter as silage did not have a major impact on dairy cattle performance in this trial.
Key Words: corn silage corn hybrids dairy cattle
Submitted on March 17, 1999
Accepted on July 27, 1999
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
B. C. Benefield, M. Lineiro, I. R. Ipharraguerre, and J. H. Clark NutriDense Corn Grain and Corn Silage for Dairy Cows J Dairy Sci, May 1, 2006; 89(5): 1571 - 1579. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. R. Kennington, C. W. Hunt, J. I. Szasz, A. V. Grove, and W. Kezar Effect of cutting height and genetics on composition, intake, and digestibility of corn silage by beef heifers J Anim Sci, June 1, 2005; 83(6): 1445 - 1454. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. K. Ivan, R. J. Grant, D. Weakley, and J. Beck Comparison of a Corn Silage Hybrid with High Cell-Wall Content and Digestibility with a Hybrid of Lower Cell-Wall Content on Performance of Holstein Cows J Dairy Sci, January 1, 2005; 88(1): 244 - 254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. D. Nennich, J. G. Linn, D. G. Johnson, M. I. Endres, and H. G. Jung Comparison of Feeding Corn Silages from Leafy or Conventional Corn Hybrids to Lactating Dairy Cows J Dairy Sci, September 1, 2003; 86(9): 2932 - 2939. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |