Wet corn gluten feed and alfalfa hay combinations in steam-flaked corn finishing cattle diets1

• Published in: Journal of animal science Vol. 81; no. 12; pp. 3121 - 3129
• Main Authors: Sindt, J. J., Drouillard, J. S., Titgemeyer, E. C., Montgomery, S. P., Coetzer, C. M., Farran, T. B., Pike, J. N., Higgins, J. J., Ethington, R. T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Champaign Oxford University Press 01-12-2003
• Subjects: Cattle; Corn; Diet
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163
• DOI: 10.2527/2003.81123121x

One finishing trial and one digestibility trial were used to evaluate wet corn gluten feed (WCGF) and alfalfa hay (AH) combinations in steam-flaked corn (SFC) finishing diets. In Exp. 1, 631 crossbred heifers (initial BW = 284 ± 7.9 kg) were fed SFC-based diets containing combinations of WCGF (25, 35, or 45% of diet DM) and AH (2 or 6% of dietary DM) in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. No interactions existed between WCGF and AH for heifer performance. Increasing dietary WCGF linearly decreased gain efficiency (P < 0.01), dietary NE^sub g^ concentration (P < 0.05), and 12th-rib fat thickness (P = 0.10). Cattle fed 35% WCGF had the lowest occurrence of abscessed livers, resulting in a quadratic response (P < 0.05) as dietary WCGF increased. In Exp. 2, 12 ruminally cannulated Jersey steers (585 kg) were fed SFC-based diets containing combinations of WCGF (25 or 45% of diet DM) and AH (0, 2, or 6% of diet DM) in an incomplete Latin square design with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. Starch intake was lower (P < 0.05), but NDF intake was greater (P < 0.05) as AH and WCGF increased in the diet. Ruminal pH was increased by AH (linear, P < 0.05) and tended (P < 0.07) to increase with WCGF. Feeding 2% AH led to the greatest ruminai NH^sub 3^ but the lowest total VFA and propionate (quadratic, P < 0.05). Addition of AH to diets containing 25% WCGF increased acetate to a greater extent than addition to diets containing 45% WCGF (AH × WCGF interaction, P < 0.05). Feeding 45% WCGF tended to increase passage rate (P = 0.17) and decrease (P < 0.05) total tract OM digestibility but increase (P < 0.05) in situ degradation of DM from AH and WCGF. Interactions between AH and WCGF existed (P < 0.05) for ruminal fluid volume (quadratic effect of AH × WCGF level), in situ SFC degradation (linear effect of AH × WCGF level), and in situ rate of WCGF DM disappearance (quadratic effect of AH × WCGF level). We conclude that AH levels may be decreased when WCGF is added to SFC diets as 25% or more of the dietary DM. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] Key Words: Cattle, Finishing, Flaking, Maize, Maize Gluten