Evaluating the effect of finely ground, dry-rolled, and crumbled corn grain on performance, feeding behavior, and starch digestion in Holstein dairy heifers

Corn processing methods including finely ground (FGC), dry rolled (DRC), and crumbled corn (CRC) were evaluated to determine their effects on average daily gain (ADG), structural growth, starch digestibility, feeding behavior, and blood metabolites of young dairy heifers. In this study, 36 Holstein heifers [91 ± 4 d of age, 105 ± 6.5 kg of body weight (BW); mean ± standard deviation] housed in 9 pens (4 heifers per pen) were fed diets (dry matter basis) containing 20% forage (wheat straw) and 80% corn-based concentrate for 60 d. Pens were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments based on the type of corn grain used for the diets: (1) ground corn (FGC; fine: 1.11 ± 0.52 mm); (2) dry-rolled corn (DRC; 2.30 ± 0.68 mm); and (3) crumbled corn (CRC; 2.54 ± 0.70 mm). Heifers had ad libitum access to diets and water throughout the experiment and the feed intake was measured daily. Animals were weighed at the beginning (91 d of age) and end (151 d of age) of the study. The ADG (kg of BW/d) was calculated at the end of experiment at an individual level. Feeding behavior was recorded based on direct observation by monitoring each heifer every 5 min during a 22-h period at 150 d of age. The CRC and DRC tended to increase feed intake compared with FGC, whereas heifers fed CRC tended to have a greater withers height compared with other treatments. Feed efficiency was not affected; however, ADG and final BW increased in heifers fed the CRC diet compared with other diets. Feeding CRC increased total-tract starch digestibility compared with FGC and DRC diets (97.8 vs. 93.1 and 89.5%, respectively). Compared with FGC diet, feeding DRC and CRC tended to increase rumination time. The molar proportion of propionate was greater, and the molar proportion of acetate and acetate-to-propionate ratio were lower in heifers fed CRC than in those fed DRC. The blood glucose and insulin-like growth factor concentrations increased in heifers fed CRC compared with feeding DRC; however, blood urea concentrations decreased by CRC feeding. In conclusion, thermal processing (CRC diet) improved total-tract starch digestibility, ADG, feed intake, and skeletal growth, but had no effect on feed efficiency during the experimental period. Our results indicated that the thermal processing of corn grain improved growth performance of weaned heifers; however, the performance of heifers over a 60-d period did not differ between mechanical processing methods (grinding and dry rolling).