Effect of feeding ensiled maize grain on rumen development and calf rearing performance

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of replacing barley grain or dry maize (50% by weight) in feed mixtures for calves with ensiled high-moisture maize grain on ruminal and postruminal digestibility of starch, rumen development parameters and rearing performance of calves. The experiment was carried out with 40 bull calves aged between 10 ± 3 and 90 days divided into 4 groups of 10 animals per group. The main source of dietary starch was barley in the control group (B), dry maize grain in group M D , 50% barley and 50% ensiled maize grain in group BM S , and 50% dry maize grain and 50% ensiled maize grain in group M D M S . The results obtained show that rolled ensiled maize grain can be successfully used in diets for calves reared from 10 to 90 days of age to replace (50% by weight) dry rolled barley or maize grain. However, slightly better production results were obtained when feeding a barley and ensiled maize grain diet, which is probably due to the better intestinal digestibility of protein and starch, as shown by higher intestinal digestibility coefficients of protein and starch as well as lower faecal starch losses. The addition of ensiled maize grain to the diets did not cause significant changes in rumen fermentation, although there was a slight increase in total VFA concentration and proportion of butyric acid, a reduction in pH of rumen fluid, and calves tended to have higher serum 196 ENSILED MAIZE GRAIN AFFECT CALF PERFORMANCE β-hydroxybutyric acid concentrations at 10 and 12 weeks of age. The replacement of dry grains with ensiled maize grain in the diets for calves did not have an unambiguously favourable effect on rumen papillae development while improving wall thickness of the ventral ruminal sac.

The effect of starch source on physicochemical and sensory quality of veal meat

“…Concentrate feeds are rich sources of fatty acids, and when high amounts of concentrates are fed to calves, the starch rate and place of degradation can influence rumen pH and thus reduce lipolysis and biohydrogenation (Doreau and Ferlay, 1994). In our study, a significant (P<0.01) decrease in the pH of rumen contents in calves from groups BMS and MDMS was observed (pH=5.2 and 5.0) compared with group MD (pH=6.26) (Sosin-Bzducha et al, 2010). Reducing the rumen content pH to below 6 decreases biohydrogenation by 5% and lipolysis by 20% (Van Nevel and Demeyer, 1996).…”

“…The results for body weight, feed intake and volatile fatty acids (VFA) as well as rumen development parameters were published in Sosin-Bzducha et al (2010).…”

The Effect of Diets Containing High-Moisture Corn or Triticale Grain on Animal Performance and the Fatty Acid Composition of Lamb Muscles

“…Fat content was three times higher in HMC than TG (46.7 vs. 15.5 g/kg DM), and CP content was only somewhat lower in HMC than TG (110.1 vs. 122.1 g/kg DM). High-moisture corn had a pH of 4.02; it was more abundant in lactic acid than TG, and contained trace amounts of ammonia N. These parameters point to the high quality of silage, which could be attributed to the optimal moisture content of ensiled grain [ 30 , 31 ]. Meadow hay had high CF content, where aNDF accounted for more than 69% (DM basis).…”

Review of Strategies to Promote Rumen Development in Calves

“…Inclusion of forage in the starter feed was positively linked with muscular development of the rumen [61,62] and morphological appearances of rumen epithelial cells, and caused decreased plaque formation [40,61]. Replacing 50% barley or corn with corn silage in the diet given to 10- or 90-day-old calves improved the thickness of the rumen wall, but had no significant effect on the papillae [63].…”