The effect of concentrate, barley and dried grass on the voluntary intake of different silages

Abstract

SUMMARYIn two experiments with steers (initial live weight 339 kg) the effect of dried grass, barley and concentrates on the intake of ‘wilted’ and unwilted grass and whole-crop barley silage was investigated.In both experiments there was no significant effect of silage type on silage dry-matter intake when given alone or with a supplement. In Experiment 1, supplementation significantly reduced (P<0·05) the intake of silage dry matter (DM) from unwilted and whole-crop barley silage. Total DM intake was significantly higher (P<0·05) for the ‘wilted’ silage diet than for either the unwilted or whole-crop barley silage diets. In Experiment 2, supplementation had no significant effect on total DM intake. Digestible energy intake was significantly higher (P < 0·05) from whole-crop barley silage supplemented with concentrate rather than barley or dried grass and was significantly lower (P<0·05) from unwilted silage diets (P<0·05) when dried grass rather than concentrate or barley was given. In the second experiment, ration digestibility and rate of passage of digesta results are reported.