Influences of combination feeding of high moisture low quality grass-dominant mixture silage with corn silage on nutritive value and feed intake in sheep

Combination feeding of high moisture low quality grass-dominant mixture silage (GS) with corn silage (CS) was evaluated in terms of the nutritive value and feed intake in sheep at three mixture levels (dry matter [DM] ratio) of 100:0 (GS100), 75:25 (GS75) and 35:65 (GS35). The two silages showed contrasting fermentation qualities; high pH and butyric acid content and low V-score in GS, and low pH and high lactic acid content and V-score in CS. The digestibilities of crude protein, acid and neutral detergent fibers (ADF and NDF) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in GS100 than in GS35, whereas the nitrogen free extract (NFE) digestibility was highest in GS35. The content of total digestible nutrients (TDN) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in GS35 than in the other two treatments. There was no significant difference in the DM intake among the three treatments. The TDN intake was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in GS35 than in GS100. The results show that the TDN intake of animals can be increased by combining high moisture low quality GS with CS, but the proportion of GS should be limited to no more than 35% (on DM basis).