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EFFECTS OF TRANSIENT VARIATION OF SILAGE DRY MATTER CONCENTRATION ON LACTATING DAIRY COWS

McBeth, Lucien Reiter
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1345489864

Abstract Details

2012, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Animal Sciences.
Transient changes in silage dry matter (DM) concentration, if unaccounted for, will cause a diet to become unbalanced. We hypothesized that a transient decrease in silage DM concentration would have a negative effect on dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield and composition, and nutrient digestibility. Holstein cows (24) at an average of 116 days in milk were used in 8 replicated 3x3 Latin squares with 21-d periods. The treatments were 1) control, 2) unbalanced, and 3) balanced. The control diet was formulated to have a consistent forage:concentrate (F:C) of 55:45 on a DM basis throughout the period. The unbalanced and balanced diets were the same as the control diet for most of the period except during two 3-d bouts when water was added to the silage (simulating a rain event) to cause a 10%-unit decrease in silage DM concentration. During the bouts, the unbalanced diet was the same as control diet on an as-fed basis, but the F:C decreased to 49:51 DM basis, which reduced diet DM concentration (66.2 vs. 63.9%) and forage-NDF concentration (23.6 vs. 21.0%), and increased starch concentration (28.4 vs. 30.4%). The balanced treatment corrected for the change in silage DM concentration by an increase in wet silage inclusion to rebalance the F:C to 55:45 DM basis. Over the 21-d period, treatment did not affect DMI (24.0 kg/d). Milk production was greater for the unbalanced treatment than control (39.3 vs. 39.8 kg/d). DMI for the unbalanced treatment was less on one day only (d 12), and was greater on the day following both bouts (d 6 and 15). As-fed intake of both change treatments was increased during the bouts to maintain DMI, but took 1 d to respond during and after the bouts. Milk production of the unbalanced treatment was not less than the control treatment on any day, and was increased during and after the first bout (d 5 and 6). Milk production was less for the balanced treatment on d 14 when compared to the control treatment. DM and NDF digestibility were not affected by the treatments (65.9% and 55.4%, respectively). Milk fat concentration was lower for the balanced treatment (3.41 vs. 3.33%) and milk protein was greater for the unbalanced treatment (2.78 vs. 2.80%) when compared to the control treatment. Milk fat increased (3.35 vs. 3.48%) and milk protein decreased (2.82% vs. 2.79%) for the unbalanced treatment during the wet bouts. Overall, a large decrease in silage DM% (10%-unit) over short term bouts (with or without TMR adjustment) had only minor effects on DMI, milk yield and composition. Therefore, with a dry alfalfa silage-based diet, adjusting for transient changes in silage DM was not necessary.
William Weiss, Dr. (Advisor)
Normand St-Pierre, Dr. (Committee Member)
Kristy Daniels, Dr. (Committee Member)
Animal Sciences
Animal Sciences; Dairy Production; Nutrition

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McBeth, L. R. (2012). EFFECTS OF TRANSIENT VARIATION OF SILAGE DRY MATTER CONCENTRATION ON LACTATING DAIRY COWS [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1345489864

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McBeth, Lucien. EFFECTS OF TRANSIENT VARIATION OF SILAGE DRY MATTER CONCENTRATION ON LACTATING DAIRY COWS. 2012. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1345489864.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McBeth, Lucien. "EFFECTS OF TRANSIENT VARIATION OF SILAGE DRY MATTER CONCENTRATION ON LACTATING DAIRY COWS." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1345489864

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.