Partial replacement of corn silage with whole-plant soybean and black oat silages for dairy cows

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of partially replacing corn silage (CS) with whole-plant soybean silage (SS) or black oat silage (OS) on nutrient intake and digestibility, in vitro neutral detergent fiber degradability of silages, feeding behavior, rumen fermentation, and performance of dairy cows. Twenty-four lactating Holstein cows (6 of which were rumen-cannulated) with 32.5 ± 4.92 kg/d milk yield, 150 ± 84.8 days in milk, and 644 ± 79.0 kg of body weight were used in a 3 × 3 Latin square design to evaluate the following treatments: (1) corn silage diet (CSD): using corn silage as the only forage source in the diet [48% dietary dry matter (DM)]; (2) whole-plant soybean silage diet (SSD): SS replacing 16% of corn silage from CSD; and (3) black oat silage diet (OSD): OS replacing 16% of corn silage from CSD. The inclusion of OS and SS decreased intakes of DM, organic matter, and crude protein. Corn silage had the greatest in vivo effective degradability of DM, and SS had the least effective degradability of neutral detergent fiber. The OSD treatment decreased milk and protein yields, whereas SSD increased rumen ammonia nitrogen concentration compared with the other diets. Cows fed OSD exhibited a greater preference for feed with small particles (<4 mm) compared with those fed SSD. Cows fed treatments containing either SS or OS at the expense of CS had increased rumination and chewing activities. Although replacing CS with OS and SS reduced feed intake, SS had no effect on productive performance of dairy cows.