Use of delactose whey permeate as a supplement for cattle on a cereal straw based diet
M. A. Friend A C , A. G. Kaiser B , J. W. Piltz B , M. N. Sillence A and S. K. Jolliffe A BA School of Agriculture, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia.
B NSW Agriculture, Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
C Author for correspondence; e-mail: mfriend@csu.edu.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44(9) 833-840 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA03171
Submitted: 16 August 2003 Accepted: 24 December 2003 Published: 22 October 2004
Abstract
The potential use of delactose whey permeate (delac) as an energy supplement for cattle offered low quality roughage was investigated. Young steers (initial liveweight 267 kg) were fed delac at 0, 0.25, 0.5 or 0.75% of liveweight. The steers had ad libitum access to oaten straw and were fed a protein supplement (cottonseed meal) at 1.33 kg/head once daily with the delac. Total intakes increased with increasing levels of delac. During the first half of the experiment, cattle offered delac had higher intakes than those not offered delac, but intake did not differ between delac supplemented groups. Furthermore, liveweight gain did not differ between groups. In the second half of the experiment, intake and liveweight gain increased with increasing level of delac in the diet. Intake of oaten straw over the whole experiment was greater with 0.25% delac than with no delac, but declined at higher levels of delac as animals substituted delac for straw in the diet. A storage study, conducted over 6 weeks, indicated a higher rate of microbial spoilage in delac with a lower solids content, however pH remained low. Calculations, based on the actual liveweight, liveweight gain and feed intake results, indicate that delac has a metabolisable energy content of about 11 MJ/kg DM. These results indicate that delac has potential as an energy supplement for cattle on low quality roughage diets and could be used on commercial farms if composition (especially solids content) is consistent and storage issues are addressed. Further investigations into the use of delac, in combination with low cost nitrogen supplements such as urea, are also recommended.
Additional keywords: feed conversion efficiency.
Acknowledgments
The skilled technical assistance of Ms K. Kerr is gratefully acknowledged, as is the assistance of Ms K. Munn in the preparation of the manuscript. Part-funding for this work was provided by Dairy Australia, Murray–Goulburn Co-operative Ltd and Bonlac Pty Ltd (formerly United Milk Tasmania). Thanks are also due to Murray–Goulburn Co-operative and Bonlac for the regular sampling and analysis of delac.
Galloway DL,
Goetsch AL,
Sun W,
Forster LA,
Murphy GE,
Grant EW, Johnson ZB
(1992) Digestion, feed-intake and live weight-gain by cattle consuming Bermudagrass hay supplemented with whey. Journal of Animal Science 70, 2533–2541.
| PubMed |
Schingoethe DJ
(1976) Whey utilization in animal feeding: a summary and evaluation. Journal of Dairy Science 59, 556–570.
Stock R,
Klopfenstein T, Brink D
(1986) Whey as a source of rumen-degradable protein. 2. For growing ruminants. Journal of Animal Science 63, 1574–1580.
Susmel P,
Spanghero M,
Mills CR, Stefanon B
(1995) Rumen fermentation characteristics and digestibility of cattle diets containing different whey:maize ratios. Animal Feed Science and Technology 53, 81–89.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
