Degradability of differently processed corn grain in bovine rumen

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effect of different forms of processing corn on ruminal degradability of dry matter, starch and crude protein. Twelve non-lactant and non-pregnant canulated cows (647 kg) were used. Experimental design was completely randomized with three treatments: cracked (1.6 mm), grinding (0.8 mm) and steam-flaked (8.25 mm; 270 g/L) corn, with 4 experimental units/treatment. Bags containing corn in different processing forms were incubated in animals for 0, 1.5, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours. An improvement on effective dry matter and starch degradability by the steam-flaked compared to grinding and cracked corn was observed. However, a decrease in crude protein degradability for steam-flaked compared to grinding corn was also observed.