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Aspen Bark and Pulp Residue for Ruminant Feedstuffs^{1 ,2 ,3,}

University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706 and and US Department of Agriculture, Madison 53705

Abstract

Five experiments were conducted to determine the feeding value for sheep and cattle of aspen bark and of aspen pulp mill fines, a by-product of an ammonia-base sulfite tissue mill. In experiment 1, three groups of 15 ewes each were fed either alfalfa hay or a ration containing 72.5% pulp fines, or a ration containing 72.5% aspen bark. Ewe and lamb performance was similar and satisfactory for all groups. In experiment 2, ruminal ingesta from four rumen fistulated ewes fed rations containing pulp fines or aspen bark had an average pH of 6.3. The molar percentages of ruminal acetate, propionate and butyrate were 71.0, 18.8 and 7.2.

In experiment 3, 20 crossbred steers, weighing an average of 223 kg, were divided into two groups, with the control receiving alfalfa hay-lage and hay and the experimental group receiving a ration containing 75% pulp fines. Average daily gain (kg/day), dry matter consumption (kg/day) and feed efficiency (kg feed DM/kg gain) during the 101-day trial for the control and treatment groups were 1.09, 8.50 and 7.8; and .45, 7.68 and 17.1, respectively. In experiment 4, nine Angus beef cows were offered a feed mix containing 83% pulp fines plus approximately 2 kg alfalfa hay in a 7-month field trial. The cows consumed the pulp fines readily, and performance was equal to that expected from cows fed conventional rations.

In experiment 5, pelleted feedlot starter rations containing either oat hulls or pulp fines were compared with corn silage as aids in switching cattle to high-grain finishing rations during the first 3 weeks of the feeding period. Measurements of body weight changes were highly variable, but daily gain averaged 1.38, .76, .74 and .63 kg/day for the corn silage, oat hull and two pulp fines treatment groups, respectively.

¹ Research supported by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison; U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison; Proctor and Gamble Co.; and Consolidated Papers, Inc. Trade names and company names are included for the benefit of the reader and do not imply any endorsement or preferential treatment of the product. The authors thank Dr. J. R. Andersen for his cooperation in providing animals for one of the experiments, Mr. Leo Brunker for his contributions as herdsman in all of the experiments involving sheep, and Mr. Gary Fritz for his effort in gathering data in one of the experiments.

² Trade names and company names are included for the benefit of the reader and do not imply any endorsement or preferential treatment of the product.

³ The authors thank Dr. J. R. Andersen for his cooperation in providing animals for one of the experiments, Mr. Leo Brunker for his contributions as herdsman in all of the experiments involving sheep, and Mr. Gary Fritz for his effort in gathering data in one of the experiments.

⁴ Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

⁵ Forest Products Laboratory. The laboratory is maintained at Madison (N. Walnut Street, 53705) in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

⁶ Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

⁷ Department of Meat and Animal Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison.