Performance of feedlot steers on silage stored using different plastic films

This study aimed to assess animal performance, ingestive behavior, apparent diet digestibility, and carcass traits in feedlot finished steers fed corn silage stored using different double sided plastic films. The experimental period lasted 100 days, with 16 days for adaptation and three 28 day assessment periods. Thirty ½ blood Angus Nellore steers with average age and weight of 12 months and 366.5 kg, respectively, were used. The experimental design applied was completely randomized blocks consisting of three treatments (DF110 µm - 110 µm thick double sided polyethylene; DF200 µm - 200 µm thick double sided polyethylene; and DFBO - oxygen impermeable film composed of 80 µm thick double sided polyethylene overlaid with translucent 20 µm thick polyamide vacuum film), with five repetitions each, consisting of a pen containing two animals. Corn silage sealed with DF200 resulted in an average increase of 0.182 kg day-1 in animal weight gain and approximately 10.96% in feed efficiency in animals that consumed this silage. Silage sealed with DF200 showed greater apparent DM digestibility, with a 6.97% increase compared to DF110, and carcass yield 8.75 and 11.53% higher than that obtained with DFBO and DF110, respectively. DF200 sealed silage also promoted an increase in daily carcass gain, which was 11.47% higher than that of DF110. DF200 and DFBO are the most suitable plastic films for sealing corn silage in trench silos, since they improve rumen dry matter degradation and promote greater carcass gains in animals during the feedlot period when compared to the control.