Fermented high moisture maize grain as supplement to alfalfa haylage is superior over unfermented dry maize grain in diet dry matter digestibility

The objectives of the experiment were to examine whether high moisture maize grain (HMM) is superior to low moisture maize grain (LMM) as supplement to alfalfa haylage (Medicago sativa L.) (AH). The effects of HMM and LMM supplementation to AH were studied on feed intake, water intake and dry matter (DM) digestibility in wether sheep. Alfalfa was harvested at the beginning of flowering and ensiled into round bales wrapped with plastic. The average DM and crude protein (CP) concentration of AH was 534.7 g kg-1 fresh sample and 141 g kg-1 DM, respectively. The average DM content (g kg-1 fresh sample) of HMM and LMM were 795.9 and 915.1 g kg-1 fresh sample, respectively, while the average CP concentration (g kg-1 DM) were 116.8 and 106.0, respectively. The study consisted of five feeding treatments incorporating AH only and AH supplemented with 5 or 10 g HMM or LMM d-1 kg-1 wether body weight. The inclusion of HMM (5 or 10 g kg-1 body weight d-1) into AH based ration resulted in higher diet DM digestibility (P<0.05) in comparison with LMM inclusion (5 or 10 g kg-1 body weight d-1). Higher daily fresh matter intake (FMI) (P<0.05), dry matter intake (DMI) (P<0.05) and water intake (P<0.05) was achieved with LMM inclusion in comparison with HMM inclusion. The conclusion was that HMM is superior over LMM as supplement to AH in terms of DM digestibility, while LMM has advantages over HMM in the intake characteristics measured.