Chemical Composition and In Vitro Digestibility of Whole-Crop Pea and Pea–Cereal Mixture Silages Grown in South-western Quebec |
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| Authors: | A F Mustafa P Seguin |
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| Institution: | Authors' addresses: Dr A. F. Mustafa (corresponding author;e-mail: ), Department of Animal Science, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Rd, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada QC H9X 3V9;Dr P. Seguin, Department of Plant Science, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Rd, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada QC H9X 3V9 |
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| Abstract: | The objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition and in vitro dry matter (IVDMD) and neutral detergent fibre (IVNDFD) digestibilities of silages made from whole‐crop pea Pisum sativum L. (PS)], pea–wheat Triticum aestivum L. (PW)], pea–barley Hordeum vulgare L. (PB)] and pea–oat Avena sativa L. (PO)] mixtures harvested 8 weeks (H8) and 10 weeks (H10) after seeding. Forty‐five days after ensiling, all forages were well ensiled as indicated by low pH and low water‐soluble carbohydrate content and high lactic acid concentration. Regardless of forage type, crude protein (CP) and IVNDFD were higher while starch and acid detergent lignin were lower in H8 than H10. However, harvest date had no effect on neutral (NDF) and acid (ADF) detergent fibre of the silages. Within each harvest date, CP was higher while NDF was lower for PS than pea–cereal silages. Differences in CP and fibre fractions between the pea–cereal mixture silages were not consistent for the two harvest dates. The IVDMD of PS was higher than that of the three pea–cereal mixture silages in H8 but was only higher than that of PB in H10. For the pea–cereal mixtures, IVDMD was higher for PO than PB and PW in H8 and was higher for PB than PW in H10. It was concluded that silage from pea monoculture had similar forage yields and a generally higher nutritive value than silages from pea–cereal mixtures. |
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| Keywords: | cereals digestibility forage pea silage |
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