Net Energy of Sweet Corn Husk and Cob Silage Calculated from Digestibility in Cows

Abstract

Sweet corn husk and cob (SC) which is a residue of sweet corn cannery contained 19.75% dry matter (DM). The nutrient composition on DM basis was 6.86% CP, 3.21% EE, 3.97% ash, 70.89% NDF, 35.61% ADF and 15.07% NFC. The silage (SCRB) was made by mixing SC with rice bran (RB) on fresh weight 86:14 and adding 4.38 g of formalin/kg fresh weight then filling it in 2 layered plastic bags. After filling, the inner bag was vacuumed and tied while the outer was sewed. Each bag contained 30 kg. They were kept for 40 days before determining digestibility in 4 cross bred Holstein Friesian cows at nonpregnant and nonlactating stage. After a 14 day adaptation period, the cows were fed with the silage ad libitum for another 14 days followed by a 6 day collection period. Feed intake and faeces output were recorded and sampled for chemical analysis. Digestibility of nutrients and TDN were calculated while DE was also directly determined. ME and NE were calculated from TDN and DE using NRC equations (1988). The result revealed that SCRB was a good quality silage with 28.34% DM. The content of other nutrients on DM basis was 10.91% CP, 11.71% EE, 57.95% NDF, 28.87% ADF, and 12.28% NFC. The digestibility of these nutrients was 58.50, 56.26, 84.68, 58.97, 51.30 and 70.68% respectively. Nonpregnant dry cows consumed the silage on dry matter basis 0.91% BW or 41.81 g/kgW0.75. The silage had 71.31% TDN, 3.10 DE, 2.68 ME and 1.60 NEL (Mcal/kgDM) respectively.