Effects of feeding blend-pelleted co-products on nutrients intake, digestibility, and production performance of high producing dairy cows

The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of feeding newly-developed blend-pelleted carinata meal (BPPCR) and blend-pelleted canola meal (BPPCN) on nutrients intake, digestibility, and production performance of high producing dairy cows. In this study, nine mid-lactating Holstein cows (BW 679 124 kg; DIM 96 22) were used in a triplicated 33 Latin Square study. Within each square, each cow was randomly assigned to one of the three treatments: Control (typical barley-based diet in western Canada); BPPCR (soybean and canola meal in the control diet replaced by blend-pelleted carinata meal), BPPCN (soybean and canola meal in the control diet replaced by blend-pelleted canola meal). Each period lasted for 21 days, with the first 14 days as an adaptation period. The total collection of feces and urine were conducted on six cows from two Latin squares. The results showed that there were no treatment effects on milk yield, milk composition, milk yield, and nutrients intake and digestibility (P > 0.10). The nitrogen balance among the three treatment groups was not different either. In conclusion, replacing soybean meal and canola meal with blend-pelleted co-products did not affect the nutrient intake, digestibility, and production performance in high producing dairy cows.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Production Performance and Metabolic Characteristics of Cows Fed Whole Plant Faba Bean Silage in Comparison with Barley and Corn Silage

This study aims to determine the effect of partial (50% and 75%) and complete (100%) replacement of barley (BS) and corn silage (CS) with whole plant faba bean silage (FBS) on milk production, feed intake and efficiency, digestibility, and metabolic characteristics of high producing cows. A repeated 44 Latin square (early lactating cows: 4 cannulated and 4 non-cannulated) design was used. The silage used for four treatments were different: control diet (T0; 18.37% CS+12.23% BS), diet 1 (T50; 9.18% CS+6.12% BS+15.30% FBS), diet 2 (T75;4.59% CS+3.06% BS+22.95% FBS), diet 3 (T100;30.60% FBS). The results showed that fat corrected milk (3.5% FCM) and energy corrected milk (ECM) were linearly increased with increasing level of whole plant faba bean silage in the diets. The starch digestibility was linearly decreased from 95.3 to 90.4% with increasing supplementing faba bean silage. Rumen fermentation characterises (pH, ammonia, volatile fatty acids) were similar among all the treatments. In conclusion, the inclusion of whole plant faba bean silage improved fat corrected milk, energy corrected milk, milk fat yield, and efficiency without negatively affecting the intake of dry matter. This study showed that whole plant faba bean silage can be used as an alternative feed for dairy cows.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author