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South Dakota State University

Replacement of Starch from Corn with Non-Forage Fiber from Distillers Grains in Diets of Lactating Dairy Cows

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Forty Holstein cows averaging 78 din milk were used in completely randomized design with a 2-wk covariate period followed by a 6-wk experimental period to evaluate incremental substitution of non-forage fiber provided by dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and soyhulls (SH) for starch provided by com in the diet. Four diets were formulated: 1) high starch (0% DDGS: 29% Starch), 2) medium starch (7% DDGS: 26% Starch), 3) low starch (14% DDGS: 23% Starch), and 4) very low starch (21 %DDGS: 20% Starch). Diets contained 27% com silage, 22% alfalfa hay, and 51 %concentrate mix were formulated to be 17% CP, 4.7% fat, and 23% forage neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Total NDF increased as DDGS and SH were included in the diet. Soyhulls were included in a linear fashion along with DDGS to replace SBM and expeller soybean meal, thereby, to maintain similar CP level across the diets. As starch was replaced with non-forage fiber, DMI linearly decreased (P < 0.01). Average milk production during the study (38.2 kg/d) was not affected by diets. There were no treatment effects on milk fat and protein percentage nor milk fat and protein yield. Milk fatty acid profiles were similar across all diets. Other parameters including 4% fat corrected milk (FCM), total solids (TS), and MUN were unaffected by dietary treatments. There was a tendency to linearly increase feed efficiency as starch was replaced by non-forage fiber (P < 0.07). Ruminal volatile fatty acid concentration (VFA) did not differ between diets. Concentration of blood metabolites, glucose and β-hydroxybutyrate from coccegeal artery and mammary vein were similar across the diets. Results from this research suggest that non-forage fiber from DG can partially substitute for starch from com in dairy cow diets without affecting milk production and milk composition. This indicates that DDGS can be used as an effective energy source to replace highly priced com, hence decrease the feed cost associated with high com diets.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science (MS)
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis - University Access Only
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Dairy Science
Year dc:date.available
2008

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Ranathunga, Sanjeewa Dilshan
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Kenneth F. Kalscheur

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • <p>In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted<br /><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/</a></p>
Language dc:language
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1490
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-2507

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
South Dakota State University
Base URL
openprairie.sdstate.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Ranathunga, Sanjeewa Dilshan. Replacement of Starch from Corn with Non-Forage Fiber from Distillers Grains in Diets of Lactating Dairy Cows. Thesis - University Access Only thesis, 2008. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1490