Investigating Silage as a Preservation Method of Browse

Overview

Browse is key to providing browsing animals biologically appropriate diets in captive settings. As deciduous trees make up the majority of browse available for harvest, it is not an option during winter months. This study aimed to investigate silage as a possible preservation method in order to provide browse in the diets of browsing animals year-round. Silage uses natural fermentation to preserve plant material, a method farmers have long used to preserve corn for their cattle. Four species of browse (Morus alba, Populus deltoids, Salix matsudana, and bamboo) were ensiled for 10 weeks in vacuum sealed bags. Each week, a bag of each species was opened to measure temperature, pH, and conduct a nutrient analysis. No noticeable changes in nutrient composition were observed, meaning silage is an effective method of preservation for browse. It was found that using vacuum sealable bags was an inefficient way to ensile browse as the core temperature was not able to increase to the optimal range of the Lactobacillus bacteria and too much oxygen was removed. A second trial of this study was conducted similar to the first, but larger in scale, using 5-gallon pickle buckets. This was found to be a more efficient method as pH values decreased more consistently. Overall, as silage methods are explored and perfected, more browse will be incorporated into browsing animals’ diets providing them with nutritional and behavioral benefits.

Competition history

• AJAS 2018 Category not listed

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