Wet corn gluten feed and alfalfa hay combinations in steam-flaked corn finishing cattle diets

• Published in: Journal of animal science 2003-12, Vol.81 (12), p.3121-3129
• Main Authors: Sindt, J.J, Drouillard, J.S, Titgemeyer, E.C, Montgomery, S.P, Coetzer, C.M, Farran, T.B, Pike, J.N, Higgins, J.J, Ethington, R.T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acetates; alfalfa hay; ammonia; Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animal productions; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cattle - growth & development; Cattle - metabolism; corn; corn gluten; diet; digestibility; Digestion - drug effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; fat thickness; Feces - chemistry; Feed and pet food industries; Female; finishing; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glutens - administration & dosage; heifers; Jersey; Male; Medicago sativa; propionic acid; Random Allocation; Rumen - metabolism; starch; steers; Terrestrial animal productions; Vertebrates; Weight Gain; Zea mays
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163
• DOI: 10.2527/2003.81123121x

One finishing trial and one digestibility trial were used to evaluate wet corn gluten feed (WCGF) and alfalfa hay (AH) combinations in steam-flaked corn (SFC) finishing diets. In Exp. 1, 631 crossbred heifers (initial BW = 284 ± 7.9 kg) were fed SFC-based diets containing combinations of WCGF (25, 35, or 45% of diet DM) and AH (2 or 6% of dietary DM) in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. No interactions existed between WCGF and AH for heifer performance. Increasing dietary WCGF linearly decreased gain efficiency (P < 0.01), dietary NEg concentration (P < 0.05), and 12th-rib fat thickness (P = 0.10). Cattle fed 35% WCGF had the lowest occurrence of abscessed livers, resulting in a quadratic response (P < 0.05) as dietary WCGF increased. In Exp. 2, 12 ruminally cannulated Jersey steers (585 kg) were fed SFC-based diets containing combinations of WCGF (25 or 45% of diet DM) and AH (0, 2, or 6% of diet DM) in an incomplete Latin square design with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. Starch intake was lower (P < 0.05), but NDF intake was greater (P < 0.05) as AH and WCGF increased in the diet. Ruminal pH was increased by AH (linear, P < 0.05) and tended (P < 0.07) to increase with WCGF. Feeding 2% AH led to the greatest ruminal NH3 but the lowest total VFA and propionate (quadratic, P < 0.05). Addition of AH to diets containing 25% WCGF increased acetate to a greater extent than addition to diets containing 45% WCGF (AH × WCGF interaction, P < 0.05). Feeding 45% WCGF tended to increase passage rate (P = 0.17) and decrease (P < 0.05) total tract OM digestibility but increase (P < 0.05) in situ degradation of DM from AH and WCGF. Interactions between AH and WCGF existed (P < 0.05) for ruminal fluid volume (quadratic effect of AH × WCGF level), in situ SFC degradation (linear effect of AH × WCGF level), and in situ rate of WCGF DM disappearance (quadratic effect of AH × WCGF level). We conclude that AH levels may be decreased when WCGF is added to SFC diets as 25% or more of the dietary DM.