Feeding Swine Waste. II. Nitrogen Utilization, Digestibility and Palatability of Ensiled Swine Waste and Orchardgrass Hay or Corn Grain Fed to Sheep

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Abstract
Four diets were fed to 12 wethers in each of two digestion trials and to 24 wethers in a palatability trial: (1) ground orchardgrass hay alone (negative control), (2) ensiled swine waste and orchardgrass hay (40:60), (3) ensiled swine waste and orchardgrass hay (60:40) and (4) ground orchardgrass hay plus soybean meal (positive control). Organic matter digestibility tended to be higher for swine waste-orchard-grass hay silages (56.4 and 56.4 vs 53.8%) than for orchardgrass hay fed alone, and was highest (P<.05) for the orchardgrass hay plus soybean meal diet (61.2%). Crude protein digestibility was higher (P<.05) for the orchardgrass hay plus soybean meal diet than for any of the other diets. N retention was negative (P<.05) for sheep fed the swine waste-containing silages, a reflection of poor retention of absorbed N. The organic matter digestibility of the swine waste, calculated by difference, was over 60% for both silages. No significant differences in dry matter intake between diets were recorded in the sheep palatability trial. Thirty crossbred wethers were used in a digestion trial and a subsequent palatability trial. The animals were fed the following diets on a dry basis: (1) basal, (2) 80% basal and 20% of 40:60 swine waste-ground corn grain mixture, (3) 60% basal and 40% ensiled 40:60 mixture, (4) 80% basal ensiled and 20% of a 60:40 mixture and (5) 60% basal and 40% ensiled 60:40 mixture. The digestion coefficients for dry matter, crude protein, organic matter and NFE increased linearly (P<.01) as proportion of either silage in the diets increased. N retention, expressed as a percentage of absorbed N, decreased linearly (P<.05) as the level of 60:40 silage increased. The same trend was noted with the 40:60 silage, but the pattern was not significant. In the palatability trial, lambs fed the basal diet plus 20% of the 60:40 silage and the basal diet plus 40% of the 40:60 silage consumed more (P<.01) dry matter, both in grams per day and grams per kilogram weight-75 /day, than lambs fed the basal alone. Copyright © 1981. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1981 by American Society of Animal Science.

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