Whole shelled corn based diets supplemented with a pelleted 50% crude protein concentrate containing urea and cottonseed meal (U-CSM), whole raw cottonseed (CS) or high quality dehydrated bermudagrass pellets (BP) were evaluated. Apparent dry matter digestibility and calculated TDN were greater (P<.05) for diets containing (U-CSM) supplement or CS supplement than for the diet containing BP supplement. Nitrogen balance data were similar for steers in all three treatments. After 4 hr in vivo, protein degradation as measured by the nylon bag technique was 48.3, 40.6 and 32.1% (P<.05) for CS, U-CSM and BP diets, respectively. In vitro protein solubility in a NaC1 solution was greater (P<.05) for CS and U-CSM diets than for BP diets. In a 120-day feeding trial with yearling steers, animals fed the BP diet gained faster (P<.05) than similar steers fed U-CSM or CS diets. In a 140-day feeding trial with heifer calves, average daily gains were not different due to diet.
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Utley et al. (1980) studied this question.