Microbial Population and Fermentation Characteristics of Total Mixed Ration Prepared with Local Feed Resources in Mozambique

Microbial Population and Fermentation Characteristics of Total Mixed Ration Prepared with Local Feed Resources in Mozambique

To effectively utilize locally available feed resources for dairy cattle in Africa, fermented total mixed ration (TMR) was prepared using Napier grass, corn meal, wheat bran, formula feed, and mineral and vitamin mix. The fermentation quality of TMR were analyzed after 14 days of ensiling. Before ensiling, aerobic bacteria were the dominant bacteria, after ensiling, lactic acid bacteria counts increased rapidly and became the dominant bacteria in TMR. After 14 days of ensiling, aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, yeasts, and molds showed lower (P < 0.05) counts in TMR than those before ensiling. The dry matter (DM) of TMR was adjusted to 45.50%, their crude protein and neutral detergent fiber contents were approximately 11.48, and 55.25% of DM, respectively. After 14 days of ensiling, TMR fermented to a good quality, the pH was reduced to 3.90; the lactic acid and ammonia nitrogen contents were 1.01 and 0.31% of FM, respectively; the propionic acid and butyric acid were too low to detect. The results confirm that fermented TMR prepared with local feed resources can attain a good quality in Africa.