. 2005. Effects of feeding wheat straw and middlings ensiled with whey on digestibility and growth of cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 85: 69-74. Two studies were conducted with the objective of evaluating the effects of feeding different levels of whey ensiled with wheat straw and wheat middlings (whey silage) compared to control diets on production parameters in growing cattle. Whey silage was included in diets at 55 and 65.5% on a dry matter basis with net energy for maintenance and crude protein calculated to be similar to control diets containing a combination of alfalfa hay, corn silage and wheat middlings at 1.74 Mcal kg -1 and 13.4%, respectively. Dry matter intake averaged 8.41 versus 8.91 kg d -1 (P < 0.05) and 8.68 versus 7.09 kg d -1 (P < 0.05) when whey silage was included at either 55 or 65.5% of the diets compared to the control diets. Average daily gains of cattle fed whey silage incorporated at 55% was 1.00 versus 1.14 kg d -1 (P < 0.05), and reflected the difference in dry matter intake; no differences (P > 0.05) in feed efficiency (8.73:1 versus 8.71:1) were observed. However, the higher dry matter intake (DMI) of cattle fed diets with whey silage incorporated at 65.5% did not (P > 0.05) translate into higher average daily gain (1.23 versus 1.18 kg d -1 ), resulting in a higher (P < 0.05) feed to gain (7.00:1 versus 6.01:1) for the whey-based silage diets. Incorporation of whey silage in diets at 55% increased (P > 0.05) the dry matter digestibility by 12%, whereas incorporation at 65.5% decreased (P < 0.05) dry matter digestibility by 12% compared to control diets, with no differences (P > 0.05) in percent neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD) at either level. We conclude that whey silage can be included at between 55 and 65.5% of the total dry matter in diets with no adverse effects on production compared to cattle fed diets containing a combination of alfalfa hay, corn silage and wheat middlings.
Key words:Agricultural by products, crop residues, digestibility, growing cattle, production, whey silage ZoBell, D. R., Okine, E. K., Olson, K. C., Wiedmeier, R. D., Goonewardene, L. A. et Stonecipher, C. 2005. Digestibilité de la paille et du gru blanc de blé ensilés avec du lactosérum et incidence sur la croissance des bovins. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 85: 69-74. Les auteurs ont effectué deux études afin d'évaluer les effets d'une quantité variable de lactosérum ensilé avec de la paille et du gru blanc de blé (ensilage de lactosérum) sur les paramètres de production de bovins en croissance, comparativement à ceux nourris avec une ration témoin. L'ensilage a été ajouté à la ration à raison de 55 ou de 65,5 % de la quantité de matière sèche, avec ajustement de l'énergie nette essentielle et des protéines brutes pour qu'elles soient identiques à celles de la ration témoin faite de foin de luzerne, d'ensilage de maïs et de gru blanc de blé (1,74 Mcal par kg et 13,4 %, respectivement). L'ingestion de matière sèche s'établissait en moyenne à 8,41 kg par jour contre 8,91 (P < 0,05) et à 8,68 kg par jour cont...