Impact of Substituting Corn Silage by Orange Pulp Silage on The Productive Performance and Economic Efficiency of Baladi Crossbred Calves

Abstract

HIS research aimed to assess the impact of corn silage (CS) replacement with orange pulp silage (OPS) at different levels (0, 50, and 100% on dry matter basis) in beef cattle rations. Thirty crossbred calves (240±3 kg average live body weight (LBW); 8 month of age) were divided into three equal groups (n=10 for each). The animals in control group (R1) were fed a CSbased ration without any replacement, while CS was replaced by OPS at level of 50% in R2 and 100% in R3. The silage quality, Feed intake (FI), digestibility of nutrients, average daily gain (ADG) and the feed economic efficiency (FEE) were measured. Results noted that the fermentation characteristics for CS and OPS were within the normal standards for an excellent silage quality. Digestion coefficients of ether extract, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, cellulose and hemicellulose were noted to be higher for R1 comparing to R2 and R3, while an increase in organic matter, crude protein, nitrogen free extract was detected for R2, as well as total digestible nutrients and digestible crude protein compared to other groups. However, R3 group showed the least values for nutrients' digestibility compared to R1 and R2. Animals in R2 group showed improve in feed conversion ratio, higher ADG and FEE compared to R1 and R3. It can be concluded that inclusion of OPS with CS (1:1) in beef cattle ration is considered an effective strategy to maximize farm profitability, enhancing animal growth performance and nutrients digestibility.