FEEDING VALUE FOR FINISHING STEERS AND HOLSTEIN MALE CALVES OF WHOLE DRIED CORN AND OF WHOLE AND ROLLED HIGH MOISTURE ACID-TREATED CORN

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted (1) to compare the feeding value of dried shelled corn and acid-treated high moisture (HM) corn and (2) to determine the effects of rolling acid-treated HM corn for all-concentrate diets fed to finishing beef-type cattle and to growing and finishing Holstein male calves. In a 120-day finishing period, Hereford and Hereford × Charolais steers performed similarly with respect to gain, feed efficiency, carcass measurements and grade on whole dried corn and on whole and rolled acid-treated HM corn. No health problems occurred during the feeding trial in which gains averaged 1.49 kg per day. The performance of Holstein male calves fed from a starting weight of 95 kg to 385 kg also demonstrated that acid-treated HM corn was comparable in feeding value to dried shelled corn. While growth of calves on whole and rolled HM corn was similar (1.24 kg/day), four calves receiving rolled HM corn were lost from the experiment due to acute bloat, laminitis and peritonitis. One calf fed whole dried corn had peritonitis and was also removed from the experiment. Incidence of liver abscesses among cattle completing the trials was 28 and 26% for beef-type and Holstein cattle, respectively. Rumen abnormalities, i.e. clumping of papillae, ulceration of rumen epithelium and accumulation of hair, were evident in calves on all treatments. Rolling of HM corn did not improve digestibility of dry matter (P > 0.05), and percentage of whole kernels in feces of steers fed whole dried or whole HM corn was low (0.45 and 0.32%, respectively).