What question did this study set out to answer?

Evaluate the effects of feeding sweet sorghum silage cultivars, corn silage, and fescue hay on feed intake, growth performance, and nutrient digestibility in growing beef calves.

January 1, 1989Journal of Animal Science

Growth Performance, Feed Intake and Nutrient Digestibility by Beef Calves Fed Sweet Sorghum Silage, Corn Silage and Fescue Hay

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Authors

LAL. O. Adewakun AFA. O. Famuyiwa AFA. FélixUniversidad ORT Uruguay

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Implication

Randomized trial reveals Brandes sweet sorghum silage matches corn silage in daily gain and improves fiber digestibility in beef calves, indicating its viability as a forage substitute.

Key Points

Evaluate the effects of feeding sweet sorghum silage cultivars, corn silage, and fescue hay on feed intake, growth performance, and nutrient digestibility in growing beef calves.
Randomized trial of 40 weanling Angus and Hereford calves (average initial body weight 159 kg) assigned to corn silage, Brandes sweet sorghum silage, Theis sweet sorghum silage, or fescue hay.
Calves were group-fed ad libitum their assigned diets over a 129-day experimental period to monitor dry matter intake, average daily gain, nutrient digestibility, and nitrogen retention.
Average daily gain was significantly greater (P < .05) in calves fed Brandes sweet sorghum silage and corn silage than in those fed Theis sweet sorghum silage or fescue hay, despite dry matter intake and feed conversion being comparable among all diets (P > .05).
Organic matter digestibility was highest for Brandes sweet sorghum silage, followed by Theis sweet sorghum silage, corn silage, and fescue hay (P < .05), with Brandes silage achieving equal or superior digestibility of cell wall fiber components compared to corn silage.
Apparent digestibilities of crude protein and ether extract, as well as total nitrogen retention, were significantly higher (P < .05) in calves fed sweet sorghum silages than in those fed corn silage.

Cite This Study

Adewakun et al. (1989) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a95892c7cf22ac2aff22500 https://doi.org/10.2527/jas1989.6751341x

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Implication

Randomized trial reveals Brandes sweet sorghum silage matches corn silage in daily gain and improves fiber digestibility in beef calves, indicating its viability as a forage substitute.

Growth Performance, Feed Intake and Nutrient Digestibility by Beef Calves Fed Sweet Sorghum Silage, Corn Silage and Fescue Hay

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Growth Performance, Feed Intake and Nutrient Digestibility by Beef Calves Fed Sweet Sorghum Silage, Corn Silage and Fescue Hay

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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