EFFECTS OF FEEDING MAIZE SILAGE AS A SOLE DIET AND MIXED WITH SOME LOCAL PROTEIN SOURCES ON FEED INTAKE, MILK YIELD, MILK COMPOSITION, BODY WEIGHT AND PRODUCT QUALITY

Abstract

Abstract The experiment was conducted at DebreZeit Agricultural Research Center with the objective of evaluating the effects of feeding maize silage as a sole diet and mixed with some protein sources on feed intake, milk yield, milk composition, body weight change and quality of cow milk by-products. Four Holstein dairy-cows with similar lactation stage, exotic blood level, and parity were used for the study. Four feed types, namely, maize silage (MS) alone, MS mixed with noug (Guizotiaabyssinica) cake, MS mixed with cotton seed cake and MS mixed with linseed cake were evaluated. Maize silage was used as a basal diet, whereas, the remaining three were considered as protein supplements. A change-over design was used for the feeding experiment with four dietary treatments assigned to each animal: maize silage (MS), maize silage + noug cake (MS+NC), maize silage + cotton seed cake (MS+CS) and maize silage + linseed cake (MS+LS). Treatment effect was highly significant (p<0.05) in affecting daily maize silage intake. The highest (32.5 kg) maize silage intake was recorded for the cows supplemented with linseed cake. The effect of dietary treatments on milk yield was highly significant (p< 0.05). The least (7.03 kg) milk yield was recorded from cows fed on maize silage alone while the highest (11.3 kg) milk yield was from those fed on maize silage with linseed cake. Treatment effects on milk fat, protein, solids(non fat) and total solids were not significant (p>0.05). The effects of dietary treatments on body weight change of cows were highly significant (p< 0.05) among the treatments. Among the panelists, 71.9% preferred cow milk yoghurt obtained from cows fed on maize silage supplemented with cotton seed cake. However, among the treatments, cheese made from cow fed on maize silage alone was preferred by the majority (71.9%) panelists. Supplementation of linseed cake to maize silage was found to be the best option to improve silage intake and milk production followed by cotton seed cake. Depending upon availability and price of these supplements, using linseed cake as a protein supplement for maize silage diet is the best alternative.