Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 MSC

2 Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultur, Islamic Azad Univrsity, Khorasgan , Isfahan(Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

3 Animal science research institute of Iran, Nutrition department

4 Animal expert

5 MSC animal breeding

Abstract

The aim of this study two-hundred Holstein dairy cows were selected and used in 4 free stall barn in a completely randomized rotating design. Sixty cows (30 cows per pen) of selected animals with the same characteristics (DIM: 180 ±15, average milk production 49±5, lactation number 2.95) were used for blood and milk sampling. Experimental treatments include control diet (diet 1) based on corn silage and experimental diet (diet 2) replacing 5% of corn silage with barley silage. The results showed that if barley silage is replaced at 5% level with corn silage so that other nutrients in the diet do not change significantly, it had no significant effect on milk production and composition, however, it significantly reduced (p <0.05) the feed intake in the experimental group that received barley silage. In addition, experimental treatments caused a significant increase in blood urea compared to the control group. Replacing barley silage at 5% level with corn silage also significantly increased the percentage of ruminal propionic acid, and had no significant effect on other ruminal parameters. Barely silage also increased the apparent digestibility of dry matter, protein and neutral and acidic detergent fiber. The results of this study showed that barley silage can be replaced with corn silage at the level of 5% without negatively affecting production performance.

Keywords

Abdalla A. L. Sutton J. D. Phipps R. H. and Humphries D. J. )1999(. Digestion in the rumen of lactating dairy cows given mixtures of urea-treated whole-crop wheat and grass silage. Anim. Sci. 69:203–212.
Ahvenjarvi S. Joki-Tokola E. Vanhatalo AJaakkola. S. and Huhtanen P. (2006). Effects of Replacing Grass Silage with Barley Silage in Dairy Cow Diets, J. Dairy Sci. 89:1678–1687.
Alizadeh A. M. Rozbehan E. Naserian A. (2006). The effect of replacing dried alfalfa with whole silage barley in rations containing cottonseed on the nutrients used and production parameters of Holstein cattle. Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. 13: No. 1. Special issue of animal sciences. (In Persian)
Allen M. S. Bradford B. J. and Harvatine K. J. (2005) The cow as a model to study food intake regulation. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 25: 523-547.
AOAC. (2002). Official methods of analysis, 18th ed. AOAC, Washington, va.
AOAC. 1980. Official Methods of Analysis. 13th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC.
AOAC. 1990. Official Methods of Analysis. 15th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington, VA.
Bahrami-Yekdangi H. Khorvash M. Ghorbani G. R. Alikhani M. Jahanian R. and Kamalian E. (2014) Effects of decreasing metabolizable protein and rumenundegradable protein on milk production and composition and blood metabolites of Holstein dairy cows in early lactation. J. Dairy Sci. 97: 3707-3714.
Beauchemin, K. A. and McGinn S. M. (2005). Methane emissions from feedlot cattle fed barley or corn diets. J. Anim. Sci. 83:653–661.
Benchaar C. Hassanat F. Gervais R. Chouinard P. Y. Petit H. V. and Massé D. I. (2014). Methane production, digestion, ruminal fermentation, nitrogen balance, and milk production of cows fed corn silage- or barley silage-based diets. J. Dairy Sci. 97:961–974.
Ferraretto L. Crump P. and Shaver R. (2013) Effect of cereal grain type and corn grain harvesting and processing methods on intake, digestion, and milk production by dairy cows through a meta-analysis. J. Dairy Sci. 96: 533-550.
Hassanat F. Gervais R. Julien C. Masse D. I. Lettat  A. Chouinard P. Y. Petit H. V. and Benchaar C. (2013). Replacing alfalfa silage with corn silage in dairy cow diets: Effects on enteric methane production, ruminal fermentation, digestion, N balance, and milk production. J. Dairy Sci. 96:4553–4567.
Hoover W. H. (1986). Chemical factors involved in ruminal fiber digestion. J. Dairy Sci. 69:2755–2766.
Kennelly, J. J. and Weinberg Z. G. (2003). Small grain silage. Pages 749–779 in Silage Science and Technology. D. R. Buxton, R. E. Muck, and J. H. Morrison, ed. Am. Soc. Agron., Inc., Crop Sci. Soc. Am., Inc., Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Inc., Madison, WI.
Khosravi M. Rouzbehan Y. Rezaei, M. Rezaei, J. (2019). Total replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage improves milk fatty acid profile and antioxidant capacity of Holstein dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 2018, 12, 10953–10961.
Lettat A. Hassanat F. and Benchaar C. (2013). Corn silage in dairy cow diets to reduce ruminal methanogenesis: Effects on the rumen metabolically active microbial communities. J. Dairy Sci. 96:5237–5248.
Lopes F. Cook D. E. and Combs D. K. (2015a). Effects of varying dietary ratios of corn silage to alfalfa silage on digestion of neutral detergent fiber in lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 98: http:// dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2014-8662. In press.
Lopes F. Cook D. E. and Combs D.K. (2015b). Validation of an in vitro model for predicting rumen and total-tract fiber digestibility in dairy cows fed corn silages with different in vitro neutral detergent fiber digestibilities at 2 levels of dry matter intake. J. Dairy Sci. 98:574–585.
Mould F. L. and Ørskov E. R. (1983). Manipulation of rumen fluid pH and its influence on cellulolysis in sacco, dry matter degradation and the ruminal microflora of sheep offered either hay or concentrate. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 10:1–14.
Nordlund K. V. (1996). Questions and answers regarding rumenocentesis and the diagnosis of herd-based subacute rumen acidosis. Pages 75–81 in Proc. Annu. Conf. Am. Assoc. Bovine Pract.
Soltani A. (2020). Production responses, blood parameters, nutritional behaviors, ruminal fermentation and digestibility of Holstein lactating cows to replace corn silage and alfalfa forage with barley silage. Doctoral Thesis.  Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran. (In Persian)
Topps J. H. and Thompson J. K. (1984). Blood characteristics and the nutrition of ruminants. MAFF Reference Book, HMSO, London, UK.
Tudisco R. Calabrò S. Grossi M. Piccolo G. Guglielmelli A. Cutrignelli M. I. Caiazzo C. Infascelli F. (2010). Influence of replacing corn silage with barley silage in the diets of buffalo cows on milk yield and quality. Veterinary Research Communications 34: 193-196.
Van Keulen V. and Young B. H. (1977). Evaluation of acid- insoluble ash natural marker in ruminant digestibility studies. J. Amin. Sci. 26: 119-135.
Van Soest, P. J. 1994. Mathematical applications: Digestibility. Pages 354–370 in Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant. 2nd ed. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY.
Van Soest, P. J., J. B. Robertson, and B. A. Lewis. 1991. Methods for dietary fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and nonstarch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. J. Dairy Sci. 74:3583–3597.
Vanhatalo, A. Jaakkola S. Rauramaa A. Nousiainen J. and Taommila A. (1999). Additives in ensiling whole crop barley. Pages 121–122 in Proc. XIIth Int. Silage Conf., Silage production in relation to animal performance, animal health, meat and milk quality. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Yang Y. Ferreira G. Corl B. A. and Campbell B. C. (2019). Production performance, nutrient digestibility, and milk fatty acid profile of lactating dairy cows fed corn silage- or sorghum silage-based diets with and without xylanase supplementation. J. Dairy Sci. 102:2266–2274.
Yang Y. Ferreira G. Teets C. L. Corl B. A. Thomason W. E. and Griffey C. A. (2017). Effects of feeding hull-less barley on production performance, milk fatty acid composition, and nutrient digestibility of lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 100:3576– 3583.