S. Tamminga

Effect of supplementing napier grass with desmodium and lucerne on DM, CP and NDF intake and weight gains in dairy heifers

Abstract A study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) with or without legume supplementation on nutrient intake and live-weight gains (LWG) in dairy heifers. Thirty-two, 1-year-old Friesian and Sahiwal heifers were used. Eight heifers, four from each breed, were randomly allocated to the following four diets: napier grass alone (D1, control), napier/desmodium (D2, inter-cropped in the field), napier grass supplemented with lucerne hay (D3) and napier grass supplemented with desmodium hay (D4). Feed intake was recorded daily while LWG was measured fortnightly over the 120-day feeding period. In a separate experiment, two fistulated steers were used to estimate the rumen DM degradation of the diets. Heifers on diets D2, D3 and D4 showed significantly higher nutrient intake and LWG (P

Effect of supplementing napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) with sunflower meal or poultry litter-based concentrates on feed intake, live-weight changes and economics of milk production in Friesian cows

A study was conducted using a randomized complete block design to determine feed intake, live-weight changes, milk yield and cost of milk production in Friesian cows fed napier grass (NG) at 10 weeks (MNG) or 15 weeks (ONG) of maturity. The MNG or ONG was supplemented with equal amounts of sunflower (SFBC) or poultry litter (PLBC) based concentrates in experiment 1, while in experiment 2, the MNG was supplemented with graded levels of the PLBC. In 0.75 experiment 1, the intakes of total organic matter (TOMI) was lower (135.9 vs. 137.7 g kg W ) while intake of total crude 0.75 protein (TCPI) was greater (16.6 vs. 12.0 g kg W ) for MNG than ONG diets (P , 0.001). The TOMI (137.8 vs. 135.8 0.75 0.75 W ) and TCPI (14.3 vs. 14.2 W ) were higher for SFBC than PLBC diets (P , 0.05). The yield of milk corrected for 21 21 butter fat (FCM) was higher (11.0 vs. 5.7 kg cow day ) for MNG than ONG diets (P , 0.001). In experiment 2, the 0.75 0.75 TOMI (112.8 vs. 130.6 g kg W ) and the TCPI (12.2 vs. 16.1 g kg W ) were lower for MNG only diet than the mean of 21 21 the supplemented MNG (P , 0.001). The MNG only diet supported lower yields of FCM (7.7 vs. 10.7 kg cow day ) than the mean of the supplemented MNG (P , 0.001). Although supplemented cows fed MNG diets gained weight, those fed supplemented ONG diets or MNG only diet lost weight. Feeding of supplemented ONG resulted in loss of revenue while supplementing with PLBC had higher profits than SFBC. We concluded that use of the PLBC would lower costs and improve milk production in dairy cows fed NG-based diets.