Digestibility, Nutritive Value and Intake of Ensiled Corn Plant (Zea Mays) in Cattle and Sheep2

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Abstract
Whole corn plant was harvested and ensiled at four stages of ear maturity: soft dough, medium-hard dough, early dent and glazed-frosted. The resulting silage was fed at maintenance-plus and ad libitum levels of intake, along with small amounts of a ureamolasses supplement, to growing Holstein steers and adult wether sheep. For each species, the experimental design was a split-plot (level of intake) within a 4×4 latin square. Digestibility and nutritive value with steers were highest for silage harvested at the medium-hard dough stage of ear development. Ad libitum intake was highest also for the silage at that stage of maturity, although maturity exerted no statistically significant effect upon silage intake. Wethers digested and utilized the two, more mature silages with greater efficiency than steers. Digestibility and nutritive value with both animal species decreased with increasing level of intake. It was concluded that feeding value of corn silage determined using sheep can not be applied to cattle in all cases.

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