Dried distiller acute s grains plus solubles supplementation improves low-quality tropical grass utilization on beef steers
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of corn dried distiller´s grains (DDGS) supplementation on feed intake, total tract digestibility, and ruminal fermentation of beef steers fed low-quality Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus, cv. Gatton panic). Twelve Braford crossbred steers were housed...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repositorio: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/216170 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/216170 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | DISTILLER`S GRAINS FORAGE BEEF CATTLE SUPPLEMENTATION https://purl.org/becyt/ford/4.2 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/4 |
| Sumario: | This study was designed to evaluate the effect of corn dried distiller´s grains (DDGS) supplementation on feed intake, total tract digestibility, and ruminal fermentation of beef steers fed low-quality Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus, cv. Gatton panic). Twelve Braford crossbred steers were housed in individual pens (n = 4 steers/treatment), provided with three levels of DDGS supplement: 0%, 0.6%, or 1.2% BW. Steers were blocked by live weight and randomly assigned to treatments within the block. Corn DDGS supplementation increased total OM intake (21.55, 40.23, and 56.69 g/kg BW0.75) and tract OM digestibility (46.33, 49.03, and 72.39 % DM). Total tract digestible OM, CP, NDF and EE intake also increase in response to DDGS supplementation. Forage OM intake decreased when supplementation level reached 1.2 % BW. Also, ruminal pH decreased with DDGS supplementation level (6.88, 6.47, and 6.27). No differences were observed in total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration; however, the molar proportion of acetate decreased (77.98, 73.90, and 67.29 % Total VFA) as well as acetate: propionate ratio (4.38, 3.48, and 2.74). On the contrary, propionate proportions increased (18.32, 21.86, and 24.81 % Total VFA). Levels of ammonia and lactate were within suggested values for optimal fermentation and bacterial growth. Low-quality grass supplementation with corn DDGS increased total OM intake and digestibility. Also, DDGS inclusion favorably altered volatile fatty acids profile by reducing the acetate to propionate ratio regarding forage-only diets. |
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