Chemical composition and nutritional value of silages prepared by using different technologies

The article presents the results of the study concerning the chemical composition and nutritional value of silages prepared from different mixtures of forage grasses and with added preservatives. The comparative analysis of the silages prepared by using different technologies has shown that the Green Spirit Fast and Green Spirit 2 forage grass mixtures are suitable for ensiling; the feeds prepared from them both with and without preservatives meet the requirements of the State Standard (GOST) R 55986-2022 «Silage and ensilage. General Specifications» for most indicators and have a high digestibility level of 74-78%. The silages prepared from the Green Spirit Fast forage grass mixture are richer in protein, despite the fact that its botanical composition contains 2% less legumes. The added preservative increases the dry matter content by 3.4-3.6%, and the energy value of silages by 0.10-0.13 kg of feed units and by 0.45-0.68 MJ of the exchange energy, but increases the acid-detergent fiber content by 2.3-5.7%. The highest crude protein content in dry matter is found in silages prepared from the Green Spirit Fast forage grass mixture, both with and without preservatives, and it amounts to 156.61-160.24 g, which is 14.1-16.7% more than in the silages from the Green Spirit 2 forage grass mixture. The crude fiber content in the silages under study meets the standards of quality class I and equals to 249.04-267.18 g / kg. The preservative added in the silage of the Green Spirit Fast forage grass mixture has allowed increasing the content of crude fat by 13.5%.