Abstract
Eight lactating Holstein cows were used to compare the feeding values of four different silages; corn harvested at the late milk ripe stage (early), corn at the late yellow ripe stage (late), timothy-ladino clover at the heading stage (early) and timothy-ladino clover at the late blooming stage (late). A replicated 4×4 Latin-square design with 21-day periods and individual feeding was used. The cows were fed experimental silages ad libitum, 1kg of concentrate per 5kg of actual milk and 2kg of second cutting timothy hay per cow daily. The principal results obtained can be summarised as follows. The silage dry matter intake per 100kg body weight was significantly (P<0.05) higher for cows fed the late cutting corn than cows fed the early or late cutting timothy-ladino clover. Cows fed the late cutting corn silage produced significantly (P<0.05) more 4% fat-corrected milk than cows fed the early or late cutting timothy-ladino clover silage. Cows fed the early cutting corn silage produced significantly (P<0.05) more 40% fatcorrected milk than cows fed the late cutting timothy-ladino clover silage. The percentage of milk fat, solids-not fat, milk protein and casein were generally higher for cows fed the corn silages harvested at either stage than cows fed the timothy-ladino clover silages harvested at either stage. Only in milk protein was any significant effect on milk composition noted due to growth stage of the silages.
