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Effect of the maturity at harvest of whole-crop barley and oat on dry matter intake, forage selection, and digestibility when fed to beef cattle

dc.contributor.advisorPenner, Gregory B.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBlock, Hushton C.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberMcKinnon, John J.en_US
dc.creatorRosser, Christineen_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-16T12:00:13Z
dc.date.available2015-01-16T12:00:13Z
dc.date.created2014-12en_US
dc.date.issued2015-01-15en_US
dc.date.submittedDecember 2014en_US
dc.description.abstractThe objective of this research was to determine the effect of stage of maturity at the time of harvest for barley and oat whole-crop forage on feed intake, ruminal fermentation and digestibility, and the impact forage allocation has on intake and ruminal fermentation. In the first 2 studies, whole-crop barley (Study 1; c.v. CDC Cowboy) and oat (Study 2; c.v. CDC Weaver) forage were harvested at the late milk (LM), hard dough (HD) and ripe (RP) stages and offered ad libitum to ruminally cannulated heifers. Diets were supplemented in an attempt to balance crude protein (CP) among treatments. Heifer performance, dry matter intake (DMI), ruminal fermentation parameters, ruminal digestibility, and total tract digestibility were evaluated. In Study 3, whole-crop oat (c.v. CDC Weaver) forage harvested at HD and RP was offered ad libitum to ruminally cannulated heifers in either daily (1-D) or 3 d (3-D) allocations. Dry matter intake and ruminal fermentation parameters were measured. In Study 1, harvest maturity of barley did not affect DMI (P = 0.70; average 5.4 kg/d) or average daily gain (ADG; P = 0.64). Total tract digestibility was decreased for barley harvested at HD (P = 0.003), but harvest maturity did not affect daily digestible energy (DE) intake (P = 0.52). Minimum ruminal pH for heifers fed the barley forage was lowest for LM (6.09), intermediate for RP (6.13), and greatest for HD (6.25; P = 0.016). Total short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations were not affected by harvest maturity (P = 0.36). In Study 2, harvest maturity of whole-crop oat did not affect DMI (P = 0.26; average 8.1 kg/d) or ADG (P = 0.52). There were no effects of harvest maturity of oat forage on total tract digestibility (P = 0.78) or daily DE intake (P = 0.68). The minimum ruminal pH from heifers fed oat forage was lowest for HD (5.84; P = 0.012), intermediate for RP (5.94) and greatest for LM (5.99). There was no effect of harvest maturity of oat forage on total SCFA concentrations (P = 0.21). The quantity of forage allocation (Study 3) had no effect on total or forage DMI over a 3-d duration (P ≥ 0.47). Throughout the 3-d feeding period, 3-D allocated heifers had a reduction in the area pH was under 5.8 (214.4, 79.5 and 10.9 pH × min/d, for d 1, 2 and 3, respectively; P = 0.003). Total SCFA concentrations were not affected by forage allocation or harvest maturity (P ≥ 0.14), however there was an interaction of forage allocation and day in the feeding cycle (P = 0.046). Heifers allocated 1-D had no change in total SCFA concentration over the 3-d feeding period (averaged 122 mM), but 3-D allocation had elevated concentrations on d 1 (138 mM) intermediate on d 2 (135 mM) and decreased on d 3 (117 mM). These data suggest that harvesting barley and oat at the HD stage improves DM yield without negatively affecting cattle DMI and ADG. These data also suggest that providing 3-d allocations of forage does not affect DMI, but can increase daily fluctuations of ruminal pH and ruminal SCFA concentrations.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2014-12-1880en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.subjectAllocationen_US
dc.subjectBarleyen_US
dc.subjectDigestibilityen_US
dc.subjectForageen_US
dc.subjectHarvest maturityen_US
dc.subjectIntakeen_US
dc.subjectOaten_US
dc.subjectSwathgrazingen_US
dc.titleEffect of the maturity at harvest of whole-crop barley and oat on dry matter intake, forage selection, and digestibility when fed to beef cattleen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
dc.type.materialtexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentAnimal and Poultry Scienceen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineAnimal Scienceen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Saskatchewanen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.Sc.)en_US

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