Title: Nutritional evaluation of sugarcane tops in conventional feeding management system during fodder scarcity season of Pakistan.
Abstract:The study was planed to evaluate the substitution of sugarcane tops for different conventional feeding regimes in Sahiwal male calves. Nine Sahiwal entire male calves ranging in age of 12-14 months wi...The study was planed to evaluate the substitution of sugarcane tops for different conventional feeding regimes in Sahiwal male calves. Nine Sahiwal entire male calves ranging in age of 12-14 months with an average weight of 95 ± 2.12 kg were divided into three groups in a completely randomized design. Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) 80% and wheat straw (Triticum aestivum L.) 20% was taken as basal ration (T0), while in T1 berseem 75% and sugarcane tops 25%; and in T2 berseem 80% and oats (Avena sativa L.) 20% were used, respectively. All the groups were allowed for ad-libitum feeding according to the experimental plan. Two weeks digestion trial was conducted at the end of feeding trial (six weeks). The average dry matter intake (DMI) was 2.56, 2.59 and 2.70 kg in T0, T1 and T2, respectively. Average daily water intake (DWI) was 1.14, 1.29 and 1.43 L in T0, T1 and T2, respectively. Data for DMI and DWI did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference among the various groups. However, the DMI -1 kg -0.75 in calves on different feeding regimes was 0.08, 0.09 and 0.07 kg in T0, T1 and T2, respectively The DMI -1 kg -0.75 showed a significant (P<0.05) difference among the treatments. Maximum DMI -1 kg -0.75 was found in T1 (0.09 kg) and it significantly (P<0.05) differed from other two (T0 & T2) groups. Minimum DMI kg -0.75 was found in T2 (0.07 kg), which differed significantly (P<0.05) from the other two (T1 & T0) groups. The data for daily weight gain (DWG) were 0.17, 0.40 and 0.49 kg, in T0, T1 and T2, respectively. There was also significant (P<0.05) difference in feed conversion ratio among the groups. The calves in T1 had the lowest FCR 11.05, while the calves in T2 had the highest FCR 14.08. The feeding regime (T1) having sugarcane tops proved to be the best ration in terms of economical gain. T0 having wheat straw showed significantly (P<0.05) poor performance in terms of weight gain as compared to T1 and T2.Read More
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 3
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