Nutritive value of Brachiaria decumbens and native pasture at various stages of maturity

Abstract

In five indoor digestion trials, Nellore steers (140-230 kg live-weight) were fed with Brachiaria decumbens (BD) and native pasture (NP), cut at different maturity stages and made into hay: in a sixth experiment poor quality native hay was given with and without 0.5 kg of cottonseed meal (CSM) per steer daily. Digestibility and intake of BD were for the most part significantly greater than NP and the differences increased with plant maturity. Supplementing poor quality native hay with 0.5 kg CSM per steer daily resulted in a significant increase in total feed intake. Significant correlation coefficients were found between digestibility of feed dry and organic matter and nitrogen content of feed and faeces; r values, relating digestibility to intake, ranged from 0.40 (NP) to 0.77 (BD) and for faecal nitrogen (FN) and digestible organic matter (DOM) were 0.71 or 0.79 (BD, with and without dry season herbage) and 0.66 for NP. Approximately similar figures were calculted for FN and organic matter intake. Within BD, r values of 0.98 (each case) were found between percentage of leaves and both digestibility and intake of organic matter.