Good quality feed is the key to producing the best livestock. The feed used is usually grass silage. Thus, the quality of silage affects the growth of your livestock. Good silage quality consists of several indicators. Bad quality silage pH is one indicator that causes livestock growth to be disrupted. The following is a complete explanation of the relationship between pH and livestock growth.
contents
Good Silage pH Level For Livestock
The purpose of giving silage to livestock is to increase production and fulfill food reserves during winter. For this reason, the success of silage fermentation greatly influences the final yield of this animal feed. One of the success factors of forage feed fermentation is pH or acidity.
The acidity level of the fermented material must comply with the standards of each material used. For forage materials, the standard pH for successful fermentation is 3.8 – 4.2. Less intake will cause the pH to be lower or higher. Bad quality silage pH will affect the physique of your livestock.
In addition to the pH level, the ammonia indicator can also indicate whether the quality of the silage is good or bad. The required ammonia level is less than 10%. If this level exceeds 15%, it will cause a lack of intake in livestock. Or it means that the food consumed has no useful nutritional intake. It can physically make your livestock look bad.
Wet silage with a high pH is also not good for feeding livestock. Such conditions also do not guarantee that the silage will last long. This situation is also one of the characteristics of bad-quality silage pH. In this condition, silage contains high levels of ammonia. Therefore, you should first check the pH level before giving it to livestock, especially wet silage.
Involvement of Silage pH In Livestock Growth
The high content of acetic acid in silage is another indicator that considers the quality of silage. The high acetic acid content also indicates that the silage has a high pH level. High ammonia levels do not rule out the possibility of fermentation. This is due to the process of excessive protein breakdown, as well as a slow decrease in pH.
If you give wet silage to livestock, keep in mind, the ammonia content in it is higher than dry silage. Even very wet silage, less than 30%, will be very high in ammonia levels. High levels of ammonia and pH in silage will affect livestock. Excess ammonia and pH conclude on RDP, possibly causing milk production and livestock reproduction to be in trouble. In addition, another effect of high pH in silage is decreased livestock performance.
Giving wet silage to livestock can be reduced in several ways. It depends on practicality when wet silage conditions occur. The recommended feeding solution is to add hay directly into the livestock rations. The method is easy, simply cutting the straw into smaller pieces so that the cattle can easily digest it.
High pH levels in silage can also be called aerobic damage. This damage is also caused by the activity of clostridia or anaerobic bacteria that work during fermentation. Effects caused by aerobic damage to silage include enteritis, loss of livestock appetite, and diarrhea.
Characteristics of Bad Quality Silage pH
The fermentation process in silage does not always run smoothly. Several processes have deficiencies that produce silage with poor or even poor quality. As for some of the characteristics of bad quality silage pH which results in poor quality fermented forage feed. Among them is a soft and slimy texture. In terms of texture like this, livestock is not interested in eating it.
Dry silage also does not necessarily have good quality. For example, silage that is too dry to break when handled is to use materials that are too dry. During storage, the dry matter gets excessively hot. So that the silage has a very dry texture. Thus, the quality of such silage will be damaged.
In terms of smell, bad quality silage pH has a strong odor. Generally good quality silage has a distinctive smell and fresh sour aroma. Silage with a failed fermentation process can be described by the sour smell of vinegar. This is because acetic acid dominates the forage feed during fermentation. If the acetic acid levels are balanced during fermentation, the smell produced by the silage will be fresh and sour like high-quality forage feed.
Feed with bad quality silage pH may not have a major effect on livestock. Especially when it comes to food shortages. But keep in mind, your cattle need nutrition. Not just feed. For that, reconsider what is included in your livestock ration.
Make sure the feed given contains rich nutrition so that the livestock growth is good. By providing good quality silage, livestock production, both milk, and meat, will also increase. If you can’t make silage with sufficient nutritional content, you can even buy it online.