Publication Date

1997

Description

The effect of poultry litter (15% wet basis) additive on the quality of king grass (Pennisetum purpureum x P. americanum) silage was studied in a randomized block design experiment (8 replications). Compared with grass silage (G), grass + poultry litter (G+P) caused significant (P<0.05) reduction in moisture (G, 716 v G+P, 670 g/ kgDM), pH (5.41 v 4.72) and butyric acid (9.6 v 5.5 g/kgDM). Crude protein (CP, Nx6.25, g/kgDM), in vitro digestibility (IVOMD, g/ kgDM) and metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/kgDM) increased from (G)104, 536 and 8.00 to (G+P) 127, 613 and 9.19. In a feeding trial using St. Elizabeth x Barbados Blackbelly lambs G+P gave significantly (P<0.05) higher daily gain (182 v 149 for G). This was related to significantly (P<0.05) higher intake of CP and ME from G+P (71.9 v 55.1 g/d and 5.20 v 4.24 MJ/d).

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Ensilage for Low Resources Farmers 2. Poultry Litter as Cheap Additive

The effect of poultry litter (15% wet basis) additive on the quality of king grass (Pennisetum purpureum x P. americanum) silage was studied in a randomized block design experiment (8 replications). Compared with grass silage (G), grass + poultry litter (G+P) caused significant (P<0.05) reduction in moisture (G, 716 v G+P, 670 g/ kgDM), pH (5.41 v 4.72) and butyric acid (9.6 v 5.5 g/kgDM). Crude protein (CP, Nx6.25, g/kgDM), in vitro digestibility (IVOMD, g/ kgDM) and metabolizable energy (ME, MJ/kgDM) increased from (G)104, 536 and 8.00 to (G+P) 127, 613 and 9.19. In a feeding trial using St. Elizabeth x Barbados Blackbelly lambs G+P gave significantly (P<0.05) higher daily gain (182 v 149 for G). This was related to significantly (P<0.05) higher intake of CP and ME from G+P (71.9 v 55.1 g/d and 5.20 v 4.24 MJ/d).