| Popis: |
Oven drying of maize cobs treated with 5 kg NaOH/100 kg dry matter (DM) did not influence digestibility but improved voluntary feed intake. The incorporation of nitrogen in the form of urea at 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% in the diets was useful in improving the digestibility of DM, organic matter (OM) and cell wall constituents (CWC). The response was linear. In one experiment, sugarcane molasses at 20% of a diet based on NaOH-treated maize cobs was completely replaced by cassava flour, maize meal or maize bran, and these had a detrimental effect both on voluntary feed intake and digestibility. The knowledge gained in the series of experiments was used in formulating complete diets for a 63-day experiment involving 9–15-month-old growing dairy heifers. Six animals per group were assigned to control or NaOH-treated cobs diets, the mean growth rate was significantly (P < 0.01) improved from 0.412 to 0.585 kg per day and the DM consumed per unit gain was reduced from 13.0 to 11.5 kg by NaOH treatment. |
