ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition
Effects of Different Supplemental Calcium Propionate Levels on Corn Stover Silage Fermentation Quality and Bacterial Community Diversity, and Their Impacts on Growth Performance, Metabolism, and Blood Biochemical Indices of Hu Lambs
Weiyang Zhang 1
Quanchao Gao 1
Hui Chen 1
Junyu Zhang 2
Yang Yue 1
Renping Liu 1
Guodong Zhao 1
Kuilun Yang 1
1. Xinjiang Agricultural University, Ürümqi, China
2. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Academy of Animal Science, Urumqi, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract
Limited attention has been given to CaP use as a silage additive for corn stover preservation, particularly within integrated trials encompassing both fermentation and feeding evaluations. This study investigated the effects of calcium propionate (CaP) supplementation on corn stover silage quality and its subsequent impact on Hu lambs performance. The ensiling experiment employed a single-factor completely randomized design with five treatments: a control (CK, no additive) and groups supplemented with 0.1% (CaPA), 0.2% (CaPB), 0.3% (CaPC), or 0.4% (CaPD) CaP (fresh matter basis), ensiled for 30 days. CaP supplementation significantly improved fermentation quality, resulting in lower pH (P < 0.05), higher lactic acid (P < 0.05) and total acid concentrations (P < 0.05), increased acetic and propionic acids (P < 0.05), and reduced butyric acid (P < 0.05) compared to CK. The 0.2% CaP treatment (CaPB) increased crude protein content by 12.85% versus CK (P < 0.05). Microbial analysis showed CaP reduced bacterial alpha diversity (P < 0.05) and enriched beneficial taxa (e.g., Firmicutes, Lactobacillaceae, Weissella). Based on the ensiling results, 0.2% CaP was selected for the feeding experiment. Thirty growing Hu lambs were randomly assigned to three diets: corn stover (CS), untreated corn stover silage (CSS), and 0.2% CaP-treated silage (CaP-S). The CaP-S group exhibited a 34.69% higher average daily gain (P < 0.05) and a 25.76% lower feed-to-gain ratio (P < 0.05) than the CS group. Apparent crude protein digestibility was also significantly enhanced in the CaP-S group compared to both the CS and CSS groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, supplementing corn stover silage with 0.2% CaP optimizes fermentation, reshapes the microbial community, and ultimately enhances the growth performance and nutrient utilization of Hu lambs. These findings provide lamb farmers, particularly those in regions with limited access to high-quality forage, with a practical and low-cost strategy to upgrade abundant crop residues into nutritionally enhanced feed, supporting more sustainable and economically viable meat lamb production.
Summary
Keywords
Calcium propionate, Corn Stover Silage, growth performance, Hu lambs, Nutrient metabolism
Received
24 December 2025
Accepted
17 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Zhang, Gao, Chen, Zhang, Yue, Liu, Zhao and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Guodong Zhao; Kuilun Yang
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.