No description available.

Graduation date: 1999

Six different cotton gin trash silages were studied which varied according to the rehydrating medium (water or whey) and the strain of L. plantarum, if any, used for inoculation. Silages were incubated at 34°C and analyzed at weeks 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 for counts of lactobacilli, total anaerobes, and sporeforming anaerobes. Biochemical measurements included pH, proximate analysis, volatile fatty acid analysis, and lactic acid analysis. Counts of lactobacilli and total anaerobes followed similar trends in all experimental silages with numbers greatly increasing by the end of week one and then subsequently declining. Counts of sporeforming anaerobes increased ten-fold by the end of the second week. Subsequent counts showed that the water-rehydrated silages maintained this increase whereas the whey silages decreased in numbers to their original magnitude. Whey-rehydrated silages had a significantly lower pH, higher dry matter content, a lower level of fiber, lignin, and cellulose, and a higher concentration of carbohydrate. These silages showed only traces of butyric acid and significantly higher concentrations of lactic acid. Thus the whey, as a rehydrating medium, produced silages of desirable pH and exhibited biochemical parameters indicative of good quality and feeding value. Of the three water-rehydrated silages, one was of obvious poor quality with the other two being questionable. No benefit was seen in using an inoculum of L. plantarum.

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Chopped alfalfa and chopped whole-plant corn were ensiled and the proteolytic changes which occurred during ensiling were investigated. Proteolysis was measured in terms of end-products of protein degradation and by protein isolation followed by electrophoresis. The effects of formic acid and ammonia, applied at the time of ensiling, on proteolytic changes were investigated. / Alfalfa treated with formic acid contained significantly reduced levels of NH$ sb3$-N and NPN compared to control silage; ammonia (NH$ sb3$)-treated alfalfa silage had significantly less NPN (P $<$ 0.05). After 90d of storage, formic acid-treated and NH$ sb3$-treated alfalfa silage contained lower levels of both branched and non-branched amino acids, sulfur containing, and basic amino acids compared to control silage; formic acid-treated and NH$ sb3$-treated corn silage contained lower levels of branched chain amino acids and sulfur containing amino acids after the same time period. Formic acid and ammonia were most effective in the reduction of proteolysis in alfalfa silage and corn silage, respectively. The protein ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase (RuDPCase) was depleted completely after 2d of fermentation in control silage. Conditions in NH$ sb3$-treated alfalfa silage stabilized RuDPCase during the first 24h of storage.

No description available.

Browse is an essential part of many zoo animals’ diet. Exotic zoo animals cannot always be provided with sufficient browse due to limitations caused by climate. This is where the use of browse silage comes in. The production of silage from browse is not well developed and though used worldwide, it is done predominantly by hand. The speed of the ensiling process had to be increased. This was done by the development of the browse press. Apple browse was as the browse species for this study. Leafy stems were placed in 30L drums and subsequently compressed with the browse press. A total of 62 drums, with an average weight of 16kg, were made. Apple browse silage averaged 41.6% DM as well as 7.6% CP, 44.9% NDF, 36.3% ADF, 14.0% lignin, 2.6% starch, 1.46% calcium, 0.13% phosphorus, 2.06% fat and 6.33% ash. The nutritional values obtained from the analysis are generally comparable to those found for browse silage in the literature.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1953. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-69). Also available via the Internet.