Abstract
Eight pregnant cows were used to determine the effects of feeding total mixed ration (TMR) silage containing
20% of steam-rolled corn grain (corn group) or 20% of cracked brown rice (rice group) on prepartum
dry matter intake (DMI), digestibility before parturition, plasma metabolite and milk production. There were
no significant differences in TMR intake of both groups before parturition. There were no significant differences
in apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent
fiber (NDFom) and acid detergent fiber (ADFom) of cows between corn group and rice group before parturition.
The apparent NFC digestibility of cows in rice group was significantly higher than that of corn group
(P<0.05). Dietary treatment did not affect the milk yield, milk fat, protein and lactose content. These results
indicated that cracked brown rice can be used for prepartum dairy cows as substitute for corn grain.
