which were essentially the same in both textures of the oats, the differences 

 were significant at better than the 5 percent level in favor of the crimped 

 oats. 



The experiment conducted in 1952-53 to measure the relative feed con- 

 sumption, milk and fat production, and gains in body weight of cows fed 

 coarse and fine concentrates is summerized in Table 5. The data show that 

 the difference in consumption of the coarse and fine concentrate mixtures 



Table 5. Average Daily Feed Consumption, Milk and Fat Production, and Total 

 Gains in Body Weight of Cows While Receiving Coarse and Fine Feeds 



Period 1 



Period 2 



Period 3 



Average 



Feed consumption 



Coarse concentrate 



Hay 



Silage 



Fine concentrate 

 Hay 



Silage 



Milk and fat production 



Coarse 



Fine 

 Cain in body weight 



Coarse 



Fine 



Total 



was not statistically significant. There was, however, a significant difference 

 in the consumption between periods. Because the concentrates were mixed 

 fresh for each period, it would seem that the difference between mixes was 

 a more important factor affecting consumption than was texture. Although 

 the cows consumed slightly more hay and silage with the fine grain than 

 with the coarse, the difference was not significant. 



The milk and fat production were relatively low because cows in late 

 lactation were used with the hope that they would be more critical of the 

 feed they ate. The difference in milk production was not significant. It 

 also can be seen that grain texture had no effect on either fat test or fat 

 production. Although the cows consumed no more feed and produced no 

 less milk or butterfat on the fine grain mixture, they did gain significantly 

 more in body weight than on the coarse mixture. This can be explained by 

 the higher digestibility and utilization of the fine textured mixture. 



Summary and Conclusions 



Thirty-two complete digestion and utilization experiments to study the 

 effects of texture on the nutritive value of dairy grain mixtures were carried 

 out with dairy cows and heifers over a period of three years. Twenty-six 

 similar experiments were carried out to determine the effect of texture of 

 both corn and oats on digestibility and utilization of nutrients. The con- 

 centrate mixtures studied were fine-textured, coarse-textured, very coarse- 

 textured and pelleted. The corn was in the ground and flaked forms while the 

 oats were in the ground and crimped forms. 



