cantly decreased fecal excretion of 

 thiamine. The urinary excretion of 

 thiamine and the fecal urinary excre- 

 tions of nicotinic acid, pantothenic 

 acid, and riboflavin were not sig- 

 nificantly affected. Total excretion of 

 thiamine and of panthothenic acid 

 were considerably greater than diet- 

 ary intakes, indicating rumen or in- 

 testinal synthesis of these vitamins. 



The utilization and digestibility of 

 the protein and energy in the ration 

 were lowered quite markedly in those 

 animals receiving the drug. 



A. E. Teeri, M. Leavitt, 



D. JOSSELYN, N. F. COLOVOS, 



AND H. A. Keener 



Trench Silo Proves Successful 



Although the trench silo is not a 

 new development, it is relatively new 

 to New Hampshire dairymen. Because 

 of the rapidly increasing popularity 

 of grass silage in this area, dairy- 

 men have been interested in this type 

 of silo as the answer to the high 

 initial cost of conventional silos. In 

 order to have first-hand information 

 on the construction and use of the 

 trench silo, one was constructed at 

 the University Dairy Nutrition Re- 

 search Barn in 1950. 



Part of the trench was filled with 

 field-chopped forage, the remainder 

 was filled with similar material in 

 the unchopped state. Molasses was 

 added to both at the rate of 80 lbs. 

 per ton of forage. After packing by 

 driving a tractor back and forth over 

 it, the forage was covered with tar- 

 paper and 8 to 10 inches of green 

 sawdust. 



The amount of spoilage was rela- 

 tively small. Both types of silage 

 were of excellent quality. It was con- 

 siderably easier to remove the 

 chopped silage from the trench than 

 the unchopped, but it was not too 

 difficult to remove the unchopped 

 material when it was forked from a 

 reasonably sized area in much the 



same manner that long hay is re- 

 moved from the mow. 



Although a trench silo has some 

 disadvantages, it may be used to ad- 

 vantage on many dairy farms. This 

 is particularly true where financial 

 resources are limited or where silage 

 storage is needed quickly or for only 

 a season or two. 



H. A. Keener 

 N. F. CoLovos 



Utilization of Protein in Grass Silage 

 Far Superior to Hays 



In the continued efforts at this 

 Station to find the best possible 

 method of harvesting and storing 

 home-grown roughages for winter 

 feeding, the relative utilization and 

 digestibility of the protein and energy 

 of various roughages were studied. 

 The forages, obtained from com- 

 parable stands, were ensiled, mow- 

 cured, and field-cured. In 24 com- 

 plete energy and protein balance ex- 

 periments using four dairy heifers, 

 it was found that the silage far ex- 

 celled the mow-cured hay and field- 

 cured hay in protein utilization when 

 compared on the dry matter or di- 

 gestible protein basis. This was in 

 spite of the fact that the digestibility 

 of the protein was higher in both the 

 mow-cured and field-cured hay. This 

 may explain the reason why greater 

 gains in body weight as reported else- 

 where resulted when silage was fed 

 than when either mow-cured or field- 

 cured hay made up the ration. 



N. F. CoLovos, H. A. Keener, 

 A. E. Teeri and H. A. Davis 



Vitamin D Helps Calves Make 

 Better Use of Their Feed 



Many dairymen have the rather 

 common fault of being careless when 

 feeding their non-producers and 

 especially their calves. Oftentimes 

 unpalatable stemmy leftover hay 

 from the milking animals, instead of 

 being discarded or used as bedding. 



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