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Feeding Silage
 
If you feed silage to sheep or cattle and you have had samples of the silage analysed, the results of the analyses may need to be adjusted before you type the values into the GrazFeed "Supplement" dialog box. If the analyses for dry matter percentage (DM%) and dry matter digestibility (DMD%) were done on samples that were dried in an oven, then adjustments will be needed to allow for the loss of volatile but useful, nutrients.
 
However, it is quite straightforward to adjust the results you receive by following the procedure below, unless of course the dry matter analysis was performed by a technique that did not result in the loss of volatile material.
 
  1. Increase the value for Dry Matter % according to the following table:
 
Oven DM%                    15         20         25         30         35         40         45         50
Corrected DM%           18         23         27         32         37         42         46         51
 
  1. Increase the value for Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD) to compensate for the digestible material lost during drying. The corrected value (see below) depends on the oven DM% and the original DMD% (which was based on the oven dried material).
 
DMD% of
oven dried silage
                                             Oven DM% of Silage
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
45
54
52
50
49
48
47
47
46
50
59
56
55
53
53
52
51
51
55
63
61
59
58
57
57
56
56
60
67
65
64
63
62
62
61
61
65
71
69
68
67
67
66
66
66
70
75
74
73
72
72
71
71
71
75
79
78
77
77
76
76
76
76
For intermediate values alter the adjustments accordingly
 
These adjustments can have quite large effects on the predictions from GrazFeed for silage of low DM%, as shown in the following example.
A supplement of 95% silage and 5% lupins offered to beef weaner steers (240kg) in a feed lot. Note that when adding silage as a new feed from the program's "Concentrate" dialog box, you should enter its oil content as 2% unless you have better analytical information.
 
 
Unadjusted values for silage
Adjusted values for silage
 
(25% DM; 60% DMD)
 
(27% DM; 64% DMD)
Weight of feed
     (kg)
DM intake
   (kg)
Weight gain
   (kg)
 
DM intake
    (kg)
Weight gain
    (kg)
 
 
 
 
 
 
     19
  5.35
    0.35
 
    5.71
    0.55
     20
  5.67
    0.42
 
    6.01
    0.62
     21
  5.67
    0.42
 
    6.09
    0.64
 
 
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