Effects of replacement of whole corn silage with straw pellets on finishing steers

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of 20%, 50%, and 80% replacement of whole corn silage with straw pellets (on an air dried basis; corn straw and alfalfa hay were mixed and granulated in a 1∶1 ratio) on finishing steers. Twenty healthy Simmental crossbreed beef cattle with similar body weight (410.56 ± 19.27) kg were randomly divided into four groups using a randomized block design and were fed 100% whole corn silage + concentrate supplementary feed (control group), 20% straw pellet feed + 80% whole corn silage + concentrate supplementary feed (group 1), 50% straw pellet feed + 50% whole corn silage + concentrate supplementary feed (group 2), and 80% straw pellet feed + 20% whole corn silage + concentrate supplementary feed (group 3). The dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), nutrient apparent digestibility, blood biochemical indexes, carcass traits, and meat quality were measured. The results showed that: 1) Group 1 had significant improvement in DMI (P < 0.05) and reduction in apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (P < 0.05), whereas group 1 and 2 had no significant effects. 2) Group 1, 2, and 3 had no significant effect on ADG, FCR, blood biological indicators, carcass traits, and meat quality traits (P > 0.05). In conclusion, straw pellets can replace part of whole corn silage for feeding Simmental western hybrid finishing steers. When the replacement ratio is 20%～80%, it has no adverse effect on the finishing steers.