Chagas, Juana
- Federal Rural University of Pernambuco
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of replacing corn silage with cactus Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. cladodes (cactus Opuntia) (0, 18.5, 37.0, and 55.5%, on a DM basis) in the diets for lactating dairy cows. Twelve Holstein cows (20 +/- 2.7 kg/day milk, 530 +/- 35 kg of body weight, 84 days in milk) were distributed in three (4 x 4) Latin squares. There was an increase in the intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), non-fiber carbohydrate (NFC) and net energy for lactation (NE1) with the replacement (17.68 to 18.58; 16.38 to 16.91; 5.32 to 7.28; 25.1 to 27.01 kg/day, respectively). The intake of crude protein (CP; 2.80 kg/day) and the digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NFC and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were not changed by the replacement (623.4; 642.4; 641.6; 519.6; 763 g/kg DM, respectively). The milk yield and fat-corrected milk yield (FCMY) to 3.5% fat increased linearly with the replacement (20.8 to 22.1; 21.4 to 23.3 kg/day, respectively). The fat, protein, lactose, and total solids milk content remained unaltered (37.6; 31.6; 45.1; 124.4 g/kg, respectively). There was a linear decrease in the urea nitrogen excretion in urine (298 to 221.4 mg/kg BW) and the urea nitrogen concentration in milk (16.8-13.04 mg/dL). We recommend a diet composed of 366.0 g/kg DM of cactus Opuntia 290.0 g/kg DM of corn silage and 344.0 g/kg DM of concentrate.
Keywords
Forage; Non-fiber carbohydrates; Semiarid; Smallholder farmers; Sustainability
Published in
Livestock Science
2019, volume: 221, pages: 133-138
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2019.01.026
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/141329