Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station afayette, Indiana
Mimeo A.H. 227 Rev. Oct. 21, 1958 (Final)
WINTERING STEER CALVES ON HAY, BARLEY SILAGE, OATS SILAGE, WHEAT SILAGE, SORGHUM SILAGE OR CORN SILAGE W. M. Beeson, M. T. Mohler and T. W. Perry Department of Animal Husbandry
Cattle men have always produced a wide variety of roughage material such as hay, straw, stalks, cobs, etc*, as a result of normal farming operations* A large portion if this roughage material has been made into hay and silages but still a very sizeable mount may be wasted or used inefficiently* The rumen—or digestive vat of the cow— as designed to break down roughage material into available nutrients that the cow ;ould utilize and convert into beef* Research conducted by Purdue during the past de-lade has shown that cattle utilize many of the typical farm roughages when we supple-:ent such a ration properly* One example is the corn cob. We now know that when ground orn cobs are properly supplemented they can make up the major portion of the ration rcm growing cattle. Cattle fed on corn cobs plus Supplement A make efficient and economical growth, and are in excellent health. The feeding potential of the cob has always been there but it is only recently" that we have learned how to properly balance cobs for cattle feeding.
A re-evaluation of the nutritional value of corn silage and legume silage has shown these two types of silage to be excellent feeds for beef cattle when they are properly supplemented.
The purpose of the research summarized in this paper was to investigate and ccm-are the feeding value and best method of supplementation of several roughages—namely, ixed hay, barley silage, oats silage, wheat silage, sorghum silage and corn silage.
Experimental Procedure
One-hundred-fifty Hereford steer calves which were raised near Pawhuska, Oklahoma were delivered to Lafayette, Indiana during the second week in August, 1957 at a cost of $26.25 per hundredweight. Sixty of these steers averaging 500 pounds each were divided into six lots of ten steers each and were fed the following growing or wintering rations:
Lot I	Hav (mixed clover and grass), free choice; Purdue Supplement A, 1
lb.; ground shelled corn, 3 lbs.
Lot II Parley silage« free choice; Purdue Supplement A, 1 lb.; ground shelled corn, 3 lbs.
Lot III Oats silage. free choice; Purdue Supplement A, 1 lb.; ground shelled corn, 3 lbs.
Lot IV Wheat silage, free choice; Purdue Supplement A, 1 lb.; ground shelled corn, 3 lbs.