Effect of Maize Stover Silage based Total Mixed Ration on Milk Yield and Composition of Cross Breed (Boran X Friesian) Dairy Cow

አህፅሮት   ይህ ጥናት የተካሄደው በ2011 ዓ.ም በሆለታ ግብርና ምርምር ማዕከል ነበር፡፡ የጥናቱ ዋና ዓላማ የበቆሎ ገፈራን ከተለያዩ የኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች ማለትም ፋግሎ፣ ፉርሽካ፣ ጥጥ ፍሬ፣ ሞላሰስ እና ጨውን በማዋሀድ በታላቢ የወተት ላሞች የወተት ምርት እና ተዋፅዖዎች (ለምሳሌ የቅባት፣ የገንቢ እና የማዕድናት ንጥረ-ነገሮች) ላይ የሚያሳድረውን ተፅዕኖ ማጥናት ነበር፡፡ ለዚህ ሙከራም በቆሎን በመዝራትና በእሸት ደረጃው በማጭድ፡ በቆሎውን እና አገዳውን በመለያየት በቆሎውን በፀሀይ በማድረቅ እና ርጥብ የበቆሎ አገዳውን በመፍጭት (ከ5-10 ሳ.ሜ) ሙከራው ተጀመረ፡፡ አንድ እጅ የተፈጨ የበቆሎ አገዳን (ከ5-10 ሳ.ሜ) ከሶስት እጅ ሞላሰስ እና ውሃ ጋር በማዋሀድ ለተከታታይ 45 ቀናት በጉድጓድ በመቅበር የበቆሎ አገዳ ገፈራ ተዘጋጀ፡፡ ከዚህም በመቀጠል የተለያየ መጠን ያለው የበቆሎ አገዳ ገፈራ እና ኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች በማዋሀድ ውህድ የእንስሳት መኖ ተዘጋጅቷል፡፡ ለዚህ ምርምር 1ኛ፡ የተፈጥሮ ድርቆሽ እና የኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች(0.5 ኪ.ግ ለ1 ሊትር ወተት ምርት) ` 2ኛ፡- 70 እጅ የበቆሎ አገዳ ገፈራን ከ30 እጅ የኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች  3ኛ፡ 60 እጅ የበቆሎ አገዳ ገፈራን ከ40 እጅ ከኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች እና 4ኛ፡ 50 እጅ የበቆሎ አገዳ ገፈራን ከ50 እጅ ከኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች ጋር በማዋሀድ ለታላቢ ላሞች ለተከታታይ አንድ መቶ (100) ቀናት በመመገብ በወተት ምርት እና ተዋፅዖዎች  ላይ ያለውን ተፅዕኖ ማየት የተቻለ ሲሆን አራተኛው አማራጭ (50 እጅ የበቆሎ አገዳ ገፈራን ከ50 እጅ ከኢንዱስትሪ ተረፈ ምርቶች ጋር በማዋሀድ ለታላቢ ላሞች መመገብ) የተሻለ የወተት ምርት ማግኘት የተቻለ ሲሆን በሶስቱም የአመጋገብ አማራጮች ላይ የተጋነነ የወተት ተዋፅዖዎች ልዩነት አልታየም፡፡   Abstract   This study was conducted at Holetta agricultural research center, Ethiopia with the major objectives to evaluate the effect of silage made from late maturing dual purpose maize crop on intake digestibility, milk yield and composition of dairy cows. A total of eight mid lactating F1 (Boran X Friesian) dairy cows with similar  milk yield (9.1 ± 0.91 kg/d) but differing in parity (ranges one to four) were selected and randomly assigned in to one of the four dietary treatments (T1=Natural pasture hay ad libitum + 0.5 kg concentrate mixture (CM) per liter of milk production; T2=TMR-1 (70% MSS: 30% CM) ;T3=TMR -2(60% MSS: 40% CM) and T4=TMR-3 (50% MSS: 50% CM) in a double 4X4 Latin square design. The cows fed T1 and T4 diet had similar DM, OM and NDF intakes (P>0.05) which is significantly higher over cows receiving the remaining treatments (P<0.05). On the other hand CP was significantly higher (P<0.05) inT4 while the ADF intake was significantly higher (P<0.05) in T1 compared to the other treatments. In addition to this, dietary treatments varied (P<0.001) in terms of their apparent DM, OM and CP digestibility, with cows on T3 showed considerably higher (P<0.05) digestibility for DM, OM and CP than cows on the control diet. Similarly T4 had shown higher CP digestibility (P<0.05) compared to the control group. However, the NDF and ADF digestibility were not affected by dietary treatments. Silage based total mixed ration improved daily milk yield with the higher (P<0.01) milk being recorded for cows receiving T4 (10.2 litter/day). Dietary treatment had no effect (P>0.05) on milk composition. Feeding maize stover silage harvested at late maturity to crossbred cows resulted better daily milk yield; however, further study is required on the economics aspect before the diet is recommended for wider use under field conditions in Ethiopia