2013 journal article

Effects of feeding corn modified wet distillers grain plus solubles co-ensiled with chopped whole plant corn on heifer growth performance and diet digestibility in beef cattle

JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, 91(9), 4366–4373.

By: R. Arias*, L. Unruh-Snyder, E. Scholljegerdes*, A. Baird*, K. Johnson*, D. Buckmaster*, R. Lemenager*, S. Lake*

author keywords: co-ensiled; digestibility; distillers grains; heifers; performance
MeSH headings : Animal Husbandry; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Cattle / growth & development; Cattle / physiology; Diet / veterinary; Dietary Supplements / analysis; Digestion / drug effects; Energy Intake / drug effects; Feeding Behavior / drug effects; Female; Fermentation / drug effects; Rumen / drug effects; Rumen / metabolism; Silage / analysis; Soybeans / chemistry; Zea mays / chemistry
TL;DR: Data from these studies suggest that MWDGS co-ensiled with WC can successfully replace traditional corn-based diets supplemented with soybean meal and corn silage diets supplementedwith distillers grains without compromising digestibility and growth performance in pregnant heifers. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
13. Climate Action (Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding corn modified wet distillers grain plus solubles (MWDGS; 48% DM) co-ensiled with chopped whole plant corn (WC) on growth performance, dietary intake, and nutrient digestibility of beef cattle. In Exp. 1, 96 Angus-crossed heifers (2 yr old; 522 ± 49.1 kg BW; 5.3 ± 0.1 BCS) were stratified and blocked according to BW and stratified by BCS in each block in a randomized complete block design (24 pens; 4 heifers/pen; 6 treatment replications). Groups were assigned to 1 of 4 dietary treatments for a 62 d trial. Treatments were 1) corn silage (CS) and soybean meal (CON), 2) MWDGS co-ensiled with chopped whole plant corn (WC; CO-EN), 3) CS mixed with MWDGS at feeding (CS+WDG), and 4) CS mixed with dry distillers grain plus solubles (DDGS) at feeding (CS+DDG). In Exp. 2, 4 crossbred beef steers (initial BW = 278 ± 18 kg) fitted with permanent ruminal cannulas were used in a balanced 4 × 4 Latin square to test the effects of feeding MWDGS co-ensiled with WC on DM intake, ruminal fermentation characteristics, and total tract digestibility. There were four 14-d periods, with 10 d for diet adaptation and 4 d for samples collection. Orthogonal contrasts were used and compared CON vs. diets containing distillers grains (DGD), CO-EN vs. diets where distillers grains were mixed at feeding (MIX), and CS+WDG vs. CS+DDG. In Exp. 1, the CON fed heifers resulted in greater G:F (P = 0.04) compared with those fed DGD. However, ADG (P = 0.03), final BW (P = 0.04), and BW gain (P = 0.03) were greatest for DGD diets compared with CON and greatest (P = 0.04) for CO-EN when compared with MIX. Apart from a slightly greater acetate concentration (P = 0.05), which resulted in a greater acetate to propionate ratio (P = 0.03) for the CON diet compared with DGD, no important differences were observed on intake, diet digestibility, or fermentation characteristics when comparing the CON treatment with DGD or when comparing CS+WDG with CS+DDG. However, the CO-EN diet resulted in decreased DMI (P = 0.05) and consequently decreased OM (P = 0.05), N (P = 0.04), and NDF (P = 0.02) intakes compared with MIX. Data from these studies suggest that MWDGS co-ensiled with WC can successfully replace traditional corn-based diets supplemented with soybean meal and corn silage diets supplemented with distillers grains without compromising digestibility and growth performance in pregnant heifers.