COMPRESSED BALED ALFALFA HAY FOR PRIMIPAROUS AND MULTIPAROUS DAIRY-COWS

Compressed baled alfalfa hay was fed to cows, and the effects on produ ctivity, chewing activities, and digestion were measured using a repli cated 4 x 4 Latin square design. Cows received second-cutting alfalfa hay (20% CP; 40% NDF) from either compressed or standard small rectang ular bales at two forage to concentrate ratios (35:65 and 65:35, DM ba sis). Compressed hay did not affect milk yield, although milk fat cont ent was higher (2.90 vs. 2.68%). Higher concentrate diets increased mi lk yield (32.2 vs. 28.3 kg/d), lowered milk fat (2.66 vs. 2.91%), and increased milk protein (3.16 vs. 2.99%) and lactose (5.06 vs. 4.99%) w ith no interaction between concentrate proportion and hay type. Cows f ed compressed bales spent less time eating per kilogram of DM and NDF consumed than cows fed standard bales, but rumination time was unaffec ted by forage processing. For cows fed both types of hay, digestibilit ies of DM, ADF, and NDF were similar; ruminal liquid outflow rates als o were similar, but rate of particulate passage from the reticulorumen was greater for cows receiving compressed hay. Compressing alfalfa ha y did not adversely affect forage quality but increased the ease of sh ipping and handling and minimized storage space requirements. This pro cess may be beneficial when higher milk fat content is desirable or wh en cows have limited time to consume forage.