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Conference poster2008Peer reviewed

Performance of dairy steers fed whole-crop barley silages harvested at different stages of maturity

Rustas, Bengt-Ove; Nadeau, Elisabet; Johnsson, Sölve

Abstract

Sixty-three younger (Exp. 1, live weight (LW) 119 kg) and 48 older (Exp. 2, LW 414 kg) pen-housed dairy steers were used in twelve-week long trials to investigate effects of maturity stage of whole-crop barley silages (WCBS) on animal performance. Precision-chopped WCBS harvested at heading (H), milk- (M) and dough stage (D) of maturity were fed ad libitum and supplemented with concentrates at 0.6-1 kg head-1 d-1. Feed intake and LW were registered continuously and data were analysed by ANOVA using GLM. Silage DM intake was highest for D in both experiment; 20.5a vs. 19.1b and 17.7c g kg-1 LW d-1 in Exp. 1 and 20.2a vs. 17.5b and 17.1b g kg-1 LW d-1 in Exp. 2 for D, M and H silages, respectively (P<0.001). Feed conversion, expressed as kg silage DM intake kg-1 LW gain, was lowest for H in Exp. 1; 3.7b vs. 4.4a and 4.3a kg kg-1 and lower than M in Exp. 2; 8.6b vs. 11.8a and 10.7ab kg kg-1 for H, M and D silages, respectively (P<0.05). The results indicate that WCBS should be harvested at heading or dough stage for good animal performance

Keywords

whole-crop cereal silage; dairy steers; feed intake

Published in

Grassland Science in Europe
2008, Volume: 13, pages: 852-854
Title: Biodiversity and Animal Feed : Future Challenges for Grassland Production
ISBN: 978-91-85911-47-9
Publisher: Organising Committee of the 22nd General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Conference

The 22nd General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation