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September 20, 2025Journal of Dairy ScienceOpen Access

Grass forages grown under identical conditions and conserved as silage or barn-dried hay: Effects on feed intake, performance, apparent total-tract digestibility, and fecal microbiota in dairy cows

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Authors

KBK. BauerTHThomas HartingerMEMansour Eghbali

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Overview

This trial compares feed intake and performance in dairy cows fed grass silage and barn-dried hay, suggesting nutritional benefits of hay.

Key Points

  • Cows fed hay experienced significantly higher dry matter intake, with an increase of 2.4 kg/d compared to silage-fed cows.
  • Milk yield was higher in the hay-fed group, averaging 28.1 kg ECM/d versus 25.2 kg ECM/d in the silage group, emphasizing hay's benefits.
  • Conservation as hay maintained levels of water-soluble carbohydrates, suggesting improved nutrient supply when concentrates are limited.
  • Fecal microbiota profiles were similar across both feeding groups, indicating no significant alterations due to differing forage conservation methods.

Cite This Study

Bauer et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68d46fcd31b076d99fa69ed9https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26992
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Performance of dairy cows offered silages produced from grass swards harvested on either three or five occasions during the growing season2024
  2. 2Dairy cow performance and nutrient utilisation when offered high or low digestibility grass silages at two levels of total diet crude protein2024
  3. 3Modelling feed intake and milk yield responses to different grass ley harvesting strategies2019 · 7 citations
  4. 4Impact of corn silage or corn silage plus protein supplementation on the ingestive and rumination behaviours, ruminal fermentation characteristics and efficiency of grazing dairy cows2024 · 1 citations
  5. 5Dietary fiber source and direct-fed microbial supplementation effects on lactation performance and feeding behavior of high-producing dairy cows2024 · 1 citations