Abstract

ESTRADA-ALVAREZ, J; VILLA-DUQUE, N  and  HENAO-URIBE, F. J. Digestibility of a sugarcane silage with pig manure, and its evaluation in a double-purpose cattle production system. Pastos y Forrajes [online]. 2015, vol.38, n.4, pp.425-430. ISSN 0864-0394.

The in vitro and in situ dry matter digestibility (IVDMD and ISDMD) of a silage elaborated from ground integral sugarcane (GISC) plus 40 % of fresh pig manure (FPM) enriched with VITAFERT, and the effect of replacing corn silage with GISC-FPM silage on the production of milk and ruminal methane (CH4), were evaluated. The study was conducted at the University of Caldas _Colombia_ in a tropical dairy production system. The IVDMD and ISDMD were each evaluated through completely randomized designs, with eight degradation times. To study the milk production 18 F1 (Zebu x Holstein) cows were used, between the second and eighth lactation, which grazed star grass (Cynodon plectostachyus) and received 5 kg/animal/day of corn silage. Nine cows, considered control, received corn silage and nine were fed GISC-FPM silage. The CH4 measurements were conducted on four cows of each treatment. The digestibility of both silages, at 72 hours, reached values higher than 70 %. There were no significant differences in the milk production and silage intake, and no alterations were observed in the sanitary status of the animals. The cows fed GISC-FPM silage produced, significantly, less ruminal CH4. The digestibility of the silages at 72 h was similar to that of the balanced feedstuffs, which proved the possibility of a partial substitution. There was modulating effect of the GISC-FPM silage, because less ruminal CH4 was produced (6,9 ppm) than with the corn silage (7,6 ppm). It is concluded that the inclusion of pig manure enriched with VITAFERT in the sugarcane silages can be an alternative in animal feeding.

Keywords : Digestibility; milk production.

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