Crude Fiber, Form of Ration, Type of Silage and Digestibility of Optimum Rations

The influence of type of silage (corn versus wheat), amount of ration fiber, and physical form of ration (meal versus pellet) on total ration digestibility and rumen volatile fatty acid concentration was studied in a 23 factorial experiment. Only pelleting of the high fiber ration consistently improved calculated NElactation of the rations. Large differences in ration composition resulted in only small differences in rumen fermentation and volatile fatty acid production when the feeds were fed as mixed total rations. High-fiber grain mixtures resulted in amounts of volatile fatty acids and ratios of acids similar to low-fiber mixtures.