Effects of different roughages and whole-plant corn silage on growth performance,nutrients apparent digestibility,and rumen fermentation function of beef cattle
CAO Jian
WANG Jinming
WANG Zhilong
CHAI Shaofang
Abstract：The experiment aims to study the effects of whole-plant corn silage combined with different roughages on the growth performance,nutrients apparent digestibility,and rumen fermentation parameters of Simmental beef cattle,in order to determine the most suitable roughage combination for beef cattle farming.Sixty healthy Simmental beef cattle with a body weight of about 400 kg in good condition were selected and randomly divided into five groups,with 12 replicates per group and one beef cattle per replicate.The roughage of the experimental groups was composed of corn stalk,peanut seedling,alfalfa,grain grass and wheat straw and whole corn silage,respectively,and the ratio of the two was 2∶3.The pretrial period was one week,and the formal trial period was 90 days.The results showed that compared with the corn stalk group,the final weight and total weight gain of Simmental beef cattle in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group were significantly increased(P＜0.05),the average daily weight gain of beef cattle in the alfalfa group significantly increased(P＜0.05),the feed-to-weight ratio significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the apparent digestibility of dry matter in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the total energy apparent digestibility in the alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the crude protein apparent digestibility in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the neutral detergent fiber apparent digestibility in the oat straw group,peanut vine group,and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the acid detergent fiber apparent digestibility in the alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the crude fat apparent digestibility in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the rumen microbial protein concentration in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),and the microbial protein concentration in the alfalfa group was higher than that in the peanut vine group(P＜0.05),the rumen ammonia nitrogen concentration in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the rumen ammonia nitrogen concentration in the wheat straw group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the rumen acetic acid concentration in the oat straw group,peanut vine group,and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),the rumen propionic acid concentration in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly increased(P＜0.05),and the acetate-to-propionate ratio in the peanut vine group and alfalfa group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).The results showed that the production performance of whole-plant corn silage and alfalfa combined beef cattle was better,while that of whole-plant corn silage and wheat straw combined beef cattle was worse.
Keywords：Simmental beefwhole-plant corn silagenutrients apparent digestibilityrumen fermentation parametersdifferent roughages
Publication Date：2025-02-28
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 13-17 )