ABSTRACT
Objective
The objective was to examine the effects of feeding teff (cv. Moxie) hay harvested
at either the early-heading (EH) or late-heading (LH) stage of maturity on nutrient
intake and digestibility, ruminal fermentation characteristics, and growth performance
in backgrounding cattle.
Materials and Methods
A total of 114 steers (initial BW ± SD = 258 kg ± 19.4) were used in a completely
randomized design. The dietary treatments were backgrounding diets containing either
EH or LH teff hay (65% of diet DM) as the only source of forage. Steers were fed over
a 56-d period. Body weight was measured at the beginning and end of the trial, with
ruminal fluid, fecal, and blood samples collected on d 21, 42, and 56 to quantify
metabolites.
Results and Discussion
Dry matter and nitrogen (N) intake and apparent total-tract digestibility were greater
for EH than LH steers. Although greater for steers fed the EH than LH teff diet on
d 21 and 42, both total ruminal short-chain fatty acid and ammonia-N (NH3-N) concentrations did not differ across diets on d 56. These observations suggest
greater nutrient supply for EH than LH steers, possibly accounting for the greater
ADG.
Implications and Applications
Delaying harvest of teff from the EH to LH stage of maturity compromised DM and N
intake and apparent total-tract digestibility, and ADG. Therefore, the stage of maturity
at harvest must be considered when developing teff (cv. Moxie) grass-based feeding
systems for growing calves.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
July 10,
2020
Received:
March 20,
2020
Footnotes
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
