Effects of Unprocessed or Steam-flaked Corn Based Diets with or without Enzyme Additive on In Vivo Nutrient Digestibility and Distribution of Corn Particles in the Feces of Holstein Steers

Effects of unprocessed (whole) or steam-flaked corn with or without enzyme additives on in vivo nutrient digestibilities and distribution of corn particles in the feces of Holstein steers were determined in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square experiment using four Holstein steers fed the diets containing 1) whole corn without enzyme additive, 2) whole corn with enzyme additive, 3) flaked corn without enzyme additive, or 4) flaked corn with enzyme additive. With regard to nutrient digestibilities such as DM, CP, CF, NFE, NDF, and ADF, no significant differences were detected among treatments, and also the nutrient digestibilities were not affected by the addition of enzyme additive. When distribution of corn particles in the feces was examined, there were no significant differences in the amount of 2, 8 mm and total corn particles. However, feeding flaked corn resulted in less corn particles (4 mm) in the feces than feeding whole corn (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in amounts of corn particles in the feces due to the addition of enzyme additive.