Jr. Orozcohernandez et al., JUICE-EXTRACTED GRASS PELLETS AND SODIUM-BICARBONATE FOR COWS IN MIDLACTATION FED TIMOTHY GRASS-SILAGE, Journal of dairy science, 77(12), 1994, pp. 3644-3654
Eighteen midlactation Holstein cows, averaging 80 to 125 d of lactatio
n, were used in a trial of switchback design to evaluate two timothy s
ilages, wilted or direct-cut and treated with formic acid, and three t
reatments, control, NaHCO3 added at 2% of DM, or juice-extracted grass
pellets replacing 30% silage DM. Cows fed direct-cut silage that had
been treated with formic acid consumed more DM (19.8 vs. 18.6 kg/d) th
an those fed wilted silage. The DMI was also increased with NaHCO3 and
grass pellet treatments. However, NaHCO3 reduced digestibility of mos
t nutrients without affecting pH of rumen fluid or degradation of DM a
nd NDF. Compared with wilted silage, direct-cut silage that had been t
reated with formic acid contained more degradable NDF (86 vs. 84.5%).
Milk yield (24.9 vs. 23.6 kg/d) was higher for cows fed direct-cut tha
n wilted silage, but 4% FCM yield remained unchanged. Addition of NaHC
O3 tended to increase yields of milk and 4% FCM. Treatments did not af
fect milk composition. Serum urea N was higher for cows fed the direct
-cut silage than for cows fed wilted silage. Silage type had more impa
ct on feed intake and performance than did NaHCO3 or juice-extracted g
rass pellets.