Effect of diets containing different forages on the performance of dairy cows

Abstract

The use of sugar cane in the diet of cattle has been widely reported in scientific literature and have been highlighted its advantages as: a high dry matter production per unit area, ease of cultivation, coincidentally with the maturation of the dry season where pastures are deficient both quantitatively and qualitatively. The main disadvantages have been reported: a) the need to cut daily, b) low-protein, c) high content of neutral detergent fiber and d) low content of minerals such as phosphorus. Therefore, is of great interest the development of technologies that facilitate the management reducing the need for cuts everyday and still improve the nutritional value of forage. The technique of hydrolysis of sugar cane with quicklime or hydrated lime, has been studied in this direction, however, there is still a limited number of studies that demonstrate the real effect of alkalinity caused by the hydrolysis of cane on animal performance. Therefore, it is interesting to determine the nutritional value of cane sugar IAC 862,480 with approximately 12 months of growth, hydrolyzed with hydrated lime associated with corn silage in various proportions, in order to feed cattle. Will be assessed nutrient intake, production and quality of milk and cost of diets. Will be used four Holstein cows,post-peak lactation (85 days on average) distributed in a Latin square, 4x4, which will be studied four diets with different proportions of roughage consisting of hydrolyzed sugar cane and corn silage plus concentrate.