Influence of fodder silage type on fermentation processes and rumen microorganisms

The study was conducted on four beef cannulae put into forestomach of 500 kg mass in the Latin square system. The control group, apart from corn silage, was fed with hay, while experimental groups were fed trefoil silage, darnel or meadow trefoil-darnel mixture. The parameters characterizing changes taking place in the rumen as well as the number of bacteria and protozoa were determined in the rumen fluid collected before feeding and 1.5 h and 3 hours after feeding. The substitution of hay with silage caused the increase of N-NH3 concentration in the rumen and changed the fermentation profiles expressed by the increase of the amounts of the following acids: propanoic, pentanoic and iso-pentanoic, and the decrease of the following acids: acetic and butyric. The silage of meadow trefoil caused the increase of bacteria and protozoa count, while the darnel silage and meadow trefoil-darnel mixture only caused the increase of bacteria count, and reduced the protozoa count.