Nutritive Value Of Maize Forage Silage Fed To Dairy ows For An Intergrated System of Grain And Milk Production In Kenya

Abstract

The study reported in this thesis was designed to assess whether the maize crop could be used as a source of forage for dairy cows as well as a source of food for human consumption. It was carried out between 1986 and 1989 and consisted of three experiments. The first experiment was designed to determine the quantity and composition of forage DM that was obtained by harvesting maize plants above the cob at different stages of growth. The results of this experiment were used to determine an optimum time for harvesting forage for subsequent feeding trials. Experiment II was aimed to examine the effect on the milk yield of dairy cows fed on maize forage silages harvested at two stages of maturity together with two levels of concentrate. The third experiment was designed to study the effect of supplementing early and late cut silages with either dairy concentrate or cottonseed cake on the DM intake and milk yield of dairy cows.