Table 1.
Composition and nutrient levels of basal diets.
| Items | Treatment 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON | L | M | H | |
| Ingredients (g/kg DM) | ||||
| Maize | 200 | 220 | 240 | 260 |
| Wheat bran | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Soybean meal | 170 | 150 | 130 | 110 |
| Maize silage | 250 | 200 | 150 | 100 |
| Mulberry silage | 0 | 50 | 100 | 150 |
| Peanut vines | 250 | 250 | 250 | 250 |
| Premix 1 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Bicarbonate of soda | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Nutrient concentrations 2 (g/kg DM, except where otherwise stated) | ||||
| Dry matter (g/kg fresh weight) | 445.1 | 444.1 | 443.2 | 441.8 |
| Digestible Energy (DE), MJ/kg | 12.3 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 11.8 |
| Crude protein (CP) | 135.6 | 137.1 | 142.8 | 149.3 |
| Ether extract (EE) | 27.7 | 29.5 | 28.9 | 30.8 |
| Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) | 394.7 | 378.2 | 370.3 | 367.8 |
| Acid detergent fiber (ADF) | 250.8 | 241.0 | 238.3 | 225.8 |
| Ash | 122.8 | 116.5 | 117.4 | 109.4 |
| Calcium (Ca) | 13.3 | 13.2 | 15.2 | 16.5 |
| Phosphorus (P) | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 |
1 The premix provided the following per kg of the concentrate: Vitamin A 1.0 × 104 IU, Vitamin D3 2000 IU, Vitamin E 125 IU, Niacin 250 mg, pantothenic acid 75 mg, Biotin b 5mg, Cu 20 mg, Fe 68 mg, Mn 56 mg, Zn 50 mg, I 1.05 mg, Se 0.2 mg, Co 0.75 mg. 2 Nutrient levels were measured values. 3 CON, L, M and H represent the substitution of 0, 20, 40 and 60% of maize silage with mulberry silage, respectively.