Short Communication: Effects of feeding wheat bran and condensed liquid whey in diets of growing cattle

Abstract

Friedt, A. D. and McKinnon, J. J. 2012. Short Communication: Effects of feeding wheat bran and condensed liquid whey in diets of growing cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 92: 501–504. Wheat bran (WB) derived from abrasion milling prior to ethanol production was evaluated in backgrounding diets for steer calves alone or in combination with condensed liquid whey (CLW) as a partial replacement for barley grain. There was no effect of CLW on any performance parameter, nor was any WB×CLW interaction detected. Average daily gain was not affected (P>0.05) by WB inclusion; however, dry matter intake of cattle fed WB was higher (P<0.01) than that of cattle fed the barley-based diet. Gain:feed and estimated diet NEg content were decreased (P<0.01) by WB inclusion. Ultrasound carcass traits were not (P>0.05) affected by treatment. These results indicate that WB can replace barley grain at levels up to 28% of the diet DM without impacting ADG or composition of gain in growing calves. However, calculated NEg of WB-based diets is lower than that of barley-based diets, thus calves must consume more feed DM to maintain similar gains.

Effects of replacing barley grain with graded levels of wheat bran on rumen fermentation, voluntary intake and nutrient digestion in beef cattle

“…Similarly, Singh et al (1999) found no effect on intake when 50 or 100% of barley grain was replaced with wheat bran in a concentrate containing 30% barley grain and fed at approximately 45% of DM intake for adult sheep consuming wheat straw ad libitum. The lack of a treatment effect on DMI in the present study differs from our companion study where similar diets were fed to growing beef steers (Friedt and McKinnon 2012). In that study, DMI increased as the level of wheat bran substituted for barley grain increased.…”

“…When AMWB was fed to growing steers as a replacement for barley grain at 14 and 28% of diet DM, body weight gain was not affected. However, dry matter intake was increased and gain: feed decreased (Friedt and McKinnon 2012). This work suggested that wheat bran derived from abrasion milling has a lower net energy content for both maintenance and gain than barley grain in backgrounding diets.…”

“…Dietary energy content was selected to match that of our companion study (Friedt and McKinnon 2012). Heifers had free access to water and were fed twice daily at 0800 and 1600.…”

“…Replacement of starch with a slowly degradable carbohydrate source also helps to maintain normal rumen pH (Sung et al 2007). The lower starch and higher structural carbohydrate content of AMWB relative to barley grain may thus help to maintain rumen health; however, alteration of VFA production patterns may adversely impact growth as evidenced by the results of Friedt and McKinnon (2012). The objectives of this study were to compare cattle fed barley grain-based growing diets relative to those fed graded levels of AMWB in terms of rumen fermentation parameters, voluntary DMI and apparent total tract nutrient utilization.…”

“…Friedt and McKinnon (2012) reported that AMWB contained 11.5% crude protein, 41.7% neutral detergent fibre (NDF), 15.8% acid detergent fibre (ADF) and 33.9% starch. This crude protein concentration is considerably lower than the 17.391.1% reported by the National Research Council (NRC 2001) for wheat bran derived from flour milling.…”