Performance and meat quality of Nordic Red and Aberdeen Angus bulls offered faba bean or field pea based whole crop legume-cereal silages

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of silage plant species (faba bean and field pea based whole crop legume-cereals vs. grass) on performance and meat quality of growing Aberdeen Angus (AA) and Nordic Red (NR) bulls. A 2x3 factorial design was used. The experiment comprised 30 AA and 30 NR bulls. Both breeds were randomly allotted to the three feeding treatments. The compositions (g kg(-1) dry matter) of diets were: 1) grass silage (650) plus rolled barley (350), 2) faba bean-wheat silage (650) plus rolled barley (350) and 3) pea-wheat silage (650) plus rolled barley (350). The experimental diets were offered as total mixed rations ad libitum. The AA bulls grew faster, had better feed conversion rates and superior dressing proportion and carcass conformation compared to the NR bulls. Replacing grass silage by whole crop legume-cereal silages in the diet did not have remarkable effects on animal performance, carcass characteristics or meat quality.