The Effects of Bacterial Additives on Feed Quality and Ruminal Degradation of Alfalfa Silage

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Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of bacterial additives on chemical characteristics and ruminal degradability of Alfalfa silage. In this experiment the treatments consisted of: 1-untreated alfalfa silage (control), 2-treated with Ecosyl (EC), 3- Lacticil Maize (LM), and 4- a combination of both additives, EC and LM, at half level of treatments 2 and 3. Silos were opened up on day 40 the following ensiling. Silages quality were assessed. Degradibility parameters were estimated through tests carried out on 3 fistulated Holstein dry cows. EC treatment exhibited the lowest Dry Matter (DM) among treatments (P <0.05). Lacticil maize decreased pH in both treatments 2 and 3 while LM bore the lowest pH in comparison with the other treatments. (P <0.05). Treatment 3 and 4 bore higher degradability and “ a ” fraction than treatments 1 and 2 at zero time of incubation (P <0.05). LM decreased the” a”,”a+b”fraction and effective degradibility of cell wall as compared with the other treatments (P <0.05) while the highest '”a” fraction was recorded for EC (P <0.05). Treatment 4 had the highest cell wall degradability at 72 hours of ruminal incubation (P <0.05). Ecosyl increased protein degradability at 12, 48 and 72 hours of ruminal incubation. The results finally indicated that Lacticil Maize can be utilized in alfalfa silage as a suitable additive because it reduces the pH and increases “a” fraction of dry matter in the aforementioned silage.

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