Milk Production Responses and Digestibility of Dairy Buffaloes (<i>Bubalus bubalis</i>) Partially Supplemented with Forage Rape (<i>Brassica napus</i>) Silage Replacing Corn Silage
Di Zhou,
Mohamed Abdelrahman,
Xinxin Zhang,
Shuai Yang,
Jing Yuan,
Zhigao An,
Kaifeng Niu,
Yanxia Gao,
Jianguo Li,
Bo Wang,
Guangsheng Zhou,
Liguo Yang,
Guohua Hua
Affiliations
Di Zhou
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Mohamed Abdelrahman
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Xinxin Zhang
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Shuai Yang
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Jing Yuan
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Zhigao An
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Kaifeng Niu
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Yanxia Gao
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Jianguo Li
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
Bo Wang
Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Guangsheng Zhou
Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Liguo Yang
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Guohua Hua
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Worldwide, silage is considered the main component in dairy animal diets; however, this portion is mainly dominated by corn silage, which raises availability challenges in some agricultural production systems. The present study evaluated a partial replacement of corn silage with forage rape silage (FRS) and its effect on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, milk production, and blood metabolites in buffalo. Thirty-six lactating buffaloes were randomly assigned to four different groups, according to supplementation of FRS (only corn silage, FRS0) or with 15% (FRS15), 25% (FRS25), and 35% (FRS35) of forage rape silage instead of corn silage. The results showed that, compared to corn silage, forage rape silage has a lower carbohydrate but a higher protein concentration. The buffalo intake of dry matter and organic matter were improved linearly with the FRS increasing in the diet. The apparent total-tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, organic matter, nitrogen, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber also increased by the FRS supplementation compared with FRS0. Conversely, FRS supplementation decreased the propionic, butyric, and valeric acid contents and increased the acetic:propionic ratio and microbial protein content. Furthermore, FRS inclusion led to a significantly higher milk urea and non-fat milk solid content, higher blood glucose, total globulins, blood urea nitrogen, and lower blood high-density lipoprotein. These results suggested that FRS has high a nutritional value and digestibility, is a good feed resource, and showed favorable effects when supplemented with dairy buffalo ration.
