The Effects of Wet Brewer’s Grain Whole Plant Maize Mixture Silages on Fermentation Characteristics and Nutrient Digestibility in Lambs

Wet brewer’s grains (WBG) are by-products of the brewing industry. These products are derived mainly from barley fermented to produce beer. They contain 230 to 290 g/kg CP of DM basis and are rich in digestible fiber (Pereira et al., 1998; Dhiman et al., 2003). Due to their fibrous nature and low energy content, WBG are suitable for ruminants, particularly in dairy cows, to balance intake of large amounts of rich starch diets (Dhiman et al., 2003). Many by-products from the food and beverage industries have been used as animal feeds, and ensiling is sometimes used to preserve moist by-products for subsequent feeding. However, acceptable fermentation is often difficult to achieve when by-products are ensiled alone due to high-moisture contents and lack of sugar substrates. Moreover, acetic and butyric acid production may increase especially after prolonged storage (Imai, 2001) and spoilage might occur when byproducts are exposed to air after silo opening Schneider et al., 1999; Nishino et al., 2003). Maize (Zea mays) is most popular cereal crop conserved as silage in many parts of world 8 due to relatively low buffering capacity and high water soluble carbohydrate for fermentation to lactic acid is responsible for the reduction of pH level (Meeske et al., 2000) although it has a low protein content. Ensiling of WBG and whole plant maize (WPM) forage with a crude protein and water soluble ISSN 1330-7142 UDK = 636.087+633.15:663.1