Forage Evaluation. I. Performance of Holstein Heifers Fed Only Early-Cut or Late-Cut Alfalfa Hay on a Free-Choice Basis

Performance of lactating dairy cows fed either alfalfa silage or alfalfa hay as the sole forage.

Alfalfa was harvested from alternate windrows as 40% DM silage or hay in small rectangular bales and fed in two 12-wk 4 x 4 Latin square trials, each with 20 multiparous lactating cows (4 with ruminal cannulas). Diets contained (DM basis) 69 (trial 1) or 66% (trial 2) alfalfa, 26 to 33% high moisture corn, 1.3% minerals and vitamins, and about 1.6 Mcal of NEL/kg of DM. In trial 1, second-cuttin...

Effect of yeast culture supplementation of alfalfa silage or alfalfa hay fed to lactating dairy cows

Bacterial communities in the rumen of Holstein heifers differ when fed orchardgrass as pasture vs. hay

The rich and diverse microbiota of the rumen provides ruminant animals the capacity to utilize highly fibrous feedstuffs as their energy source, but there is surprisingly little information on the composition of the microbiome of ruminants fed all-forage diets, despite the importance of such agricultural production systems worldwide. In three 28-day periods, three ruminally-cannulated Holstein ...

Enteric methane emission, diet digestibility, and nitrogen excretion from beef heifers fed sainfoin or alfalfa.

Effects of plant-bound condensed tannin (CT)-containing sainfoin vs. CT-free alfalfa (or low-CT alfalfa-sainfoin mixture), plant stage of maturity, and their interaction on enteric methane (CH4) emissions, diet digestibility, and N excretion were studied, using 8 ruminally cannulated beef heifers in 2 sequential short-term experiments (Exp. 1 and 2). In Exp. 1, first growth legumes were harvest...

Performance of lactating dairy cows fed macerated forage conserved as silage and hay

Suwarno, Wittenberg, K. M., Ingalls, J. R. and McCaughey, W. P. 2000. Performance of lactating dairy cows fed macerated forage conserved as silage and hay. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 80: 123–129. The effect of forage maceration at harvest on silage characteristics and its effect on lactation performance of Holstein cows were determined. Either a roller conditioner or a prototype forage macerator manufa...