High-moisture sorghum grain silage with low- and high-tannin contents for weanling piglets

Abstract

Sorghum is the second cereal used in pigs’ diets in Brazil, which has a lower cost than corn, thus this experiment aimed to study the effects of high-moisture sorghum silage grain with high- and low-tannin contents on silage quality and piglets’ performance. A total of seventy-two weaned piglets were allocated into randomized blocks with six replicates and four treatments, based on diets with dry corn grain (DCG); dry sorghum grain with low-tannin (LTSG), high-moisture sorghum grain silage with low-(LTSS) and high-tannin (HTSS). The ensiling process decreased total and condensed tannin contents to 31% and 98% for LTSS and, to 80% and 93% for HTSS, respectively. No treatment effects observed on average daily feed intake and average daily weight gain. The feed:gain ratio of piglets fed LTSS was greater than piglets fed LTSG. At total period, piglets fed HTSS showed a similar feed:gain ratio than piglets fed DCG or LTSG, although it was worse than animals fed LTSS. The LTSS and HTSS can replace corn or sorghum dry grains in diets of weanling pigs with no adverse effects on growth performance.

Fermentation of Whole Grain Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) with Different Dry Matter Concentrations: Effect on the Apparent Total Tract Digestibility of Energy, Crude Nutrients and Minerals in Growing Pigs

“…The nutritional value of sorghum grains can be improved through the application of different processing methods, such as grinding [ 8 ], hydrothermal processing [ 9 ], germination [ 10 ] or ensiling [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. In some regions in Europe (e.g., Austria, Germany, Slovakia), conserving maize through ensiling is well established because it has a lot of advantages [ 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”