Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

W. A. Pichler:

Investigations about the use of cereal straw treated with sodium hydroxide for the fattening of young bulls

Summary

The feeding trial should clarify the following questions: - Is the feeding value of NaOH-treated straw equal to milled corn cobs? - Has the pelleting of NaOH-straw together with other additives an influence on the digestibility? - What effect has the feeding of treated straw upon fattening performance and carcass value compared with a feeding procedure with natural straw and milled corn cobs? The results presented show that the source of crude fibre and the feeding level have an important influence upon the performance of the animals. This could be observed in all periods of the trial. The chemical treatment of the straw led to a significant increase of the feeding value but did not reach the level of milled corn cobs. Moreover, interactions exist between the source of crude fibre and the feeding level possibly influenced by the processing of feed and the straw proportion in the fodder ration, respectively. Key words: Cereal straw treatment, sodium hydroxide, young bulls, fattening performance, carcass quality.