Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate in situ ruminal degradability of elephant grass silages with addition of 8, 16 and 24% of faveira pods in experimental silos of 100x50 mm, equipped with bunsen valves. The content of crude protein (cp) and neutral detergent fiber (ndf) were determined on a dry matter basis. To evaluate the in situ degradability of dm, cp and ndf, nylon bags containing 4 g sample were incubated in the rumen of three fistulated cattle for 6, 24 and 72h. The dm and cp content of elephant grass silages increased (p < 0.05) from 8% inclusion associated with a higher concentration of constituents in faveira pods (77.25 and 9.61% dm). The ndf fraction reduced 10.91% (p < 0.05) when adding 24% pods. The potential degradation (pd) of dm and cp increased with inclusion of faveira pods, with 75.97 and 95.21%, respectively, for the level of 24%. There was increased potentially degradable fraction (bp) of ndf by 7.07% with inclusion of 24% faveira pods, as well as a reduced colonization time (lag) from 3.81 to 3.44 hours. The addition of up to 24% faveira pods to elephant grass silages improves rumen microbial degradation, and it is indicated this level of addition to obtain better quality silage.
Highlights
The production of ruminant herds in some sub regions of northeastern Brazil is below the expected animal indices and among the factors responsible is inadequate feeding, based mainly on forages subjected to a seasonality problem caused by low rainfall values
The use of conserved forage allows the use of the surplus produced in the rainy season, and among the conservation methods, ensiling, which is based on anaerobic fermentation process, is very important because it allows the preservation of nutrients found in the forage, supplying them with sufficient quality and amount to feed the herds at times of the year with pastures of low nutritive value (Ferreira, Neiva, Rodriguez, Lopes, & Lôbo, 2010)
(24%) resulted in a dry matter (DM) content (34.4%) higher than the 25-28% recommended by Costa et al (2012) for the predominance of lactic fermentation and inhibition of the undesired fermentation, similar to the results obtained by Santos et al (2012) for silage with inclusion of mesquite pods, with a mean of
Summary
The production of ruminant herds in some sub regions of northeastern Brazil is below the expected animal indices and among the factors responsible is inadequate feeding, based mainly on forages subjected to a seasonality problem caused by low rainfall values. This justifies the search for technologies that improve rearing systems as for feeding herds and allow the use of forage resources efficiently. Animal Sciences, v. 40, e39946, 2018 microbial activity by providing energetic substrates for the microorganisms in the silo
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