THE RESPONSE OF SHEEP TO BIG BALE GRASS-SILAGE ENSILED WITH, OR SUPPLEMENTED SEPARATELY WITH, MOLASSED SUGAR-BEET FEED

Second cut big bale grass silage was prepared with grass ensiled alone or with added pelleted, molassed sugar beet feed (MSBF) at 32 or 64 g MSBF kg(-1) fresh weight of grass. Addition of MSBF at ensilage incre ased silage dry matter (DM), water soluble carbohydrate and lactic aci d concentrations and decreased ammonia concentration. When fed to weth er lambs, MSBF addition, whether at ensilage or given separately, vari ably improved DM intake, live-weight gain and feed conversion efficien cy, Ruminal concentrations of ammonia were reduced and acetate molar p roportion increased in diets supplemented with MSBF separately compare d with the silage only control diet, Animal performance was generally improved by MSBF supplementation with responses to silages made with a dded MSBF comparable to those from silage supplemented with MSBF at fe eding, There was little difference in animal performance between silag es made with 32 or 64 g kg(-1) MSBF added at ensiling.