title: Evaluation of total mixed ration silage with brewers grains for dairy buffalo in Tarai, Nepal.
abstract: To investigate the effects of total mixed ration (TMR) silage, which contained brewers grain and rice straw as a substitute for conventional concentrate on feed intake and milk production in middle-to-late lactation buffaloes, four multiparous Murrah buffaloes were assigned to a 3 × 3 Latin square design experiment. The TMR silage, which had higher neutral and acid detergent fiber contents and digestibility than concentrate (P < 0.05) and similar crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrient (TDN) contents with concentrate were used for the lactation experiment. The treatments were control (CTL) fed concentrate at 0.6% of body weight (BW), and T1 and T2 fed the TMR silage at 0.6 and 1.2% of BW on a dry matter (DM) basis, respectively, with rice straw ad libitum. Daily intakes of DM, CP and TDN, and BW change were higher in T2 than in CTL and T1 (P < 0.05). Although milk composition did not differ among the treatments, milk yield (MY) was higher in T2 (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in MY/DM intake and MY/TDN intake among the treatments. The increase of BW and MY in middle-to-late lactation buffaloes might have been due to high TDN intake from supplementary TMR silage.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Tribhuvan University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Naba R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Devkota
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazato
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirooka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumagai
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002020:Buffaloes / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle; D004435:Eating; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D009390:Nepal; D012820:Silage
keywords: brewers grain; dairy buffalo; food by-product; total mixed ration silage