Effect of dry corn gluten feed on chemical composition and digestibility of corn silage by in vitro and in vivo methods

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dry corn gluten feed (DCGF) on nutritive value of corn silage by in vitro and in vivo methods. The firs stage of the experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, included three treatments and 5 replicates, in which chopped corn forage was mixed with 0.0, 5 and 10 percent of DCGF and ensiled in 200L polyethylen barrels. After three months of ensiling, the silages were opened and evaluated. Voluntary intake and digestibility of the silages along with basal diet (Alfalfa hay+wheat straw+barley ground) were determined, using mature (two years old) male Shal sheep. Including of DCGF to corn silage increased (p<0.05)dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) in the silages respectively, but pH and organic matter values were not affected by the treatments. However, the DM content did not reach to optimum (35%) point. Concentration of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) was increased but acid detergent fibre (ADF) was decreased (p<0.05) as DCGF was increased in the corn silages. Addition of CGF increased dry matter intake of the silages (p<0.05). The digestibility of DM, OM and NDF were higher in silages containing  DCGF (p<0.05). The intake of the digestible DM, OM and NDF were higher in DCGF content silages than those of basal diet and control silage (p<0.05). In general,adding DCGF to corn silage could improve silage quality as well as increasing voluntary intake (g/d) and digestibility when fed to sheep.