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Impact Of Various Feeding Regimes On Growth Performance Of Male Buffalo Calves

By: Rashid Iqbal | Prof. Dr. Makhdoom Abdul Jabbar.
Contributor(s): Prof. Dr | Prof. Dr. Anjum Khalique.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: 2011Subject(s): Department of Animal NutritionDDC classification: 1227,T Dissertation note: There has been a gradual decline in per capita availability of proteinous food particularly of animal origin for human consumption in our country. The feasible solution of the problem is to increase the production of meat. The potential of buffalo as a food animal to meet present and future demands of rapidly growing population deserves special attention because of its capacity to economically convert course roughages and other cereal by products into meat. Pakistan is second largest buffalo holding country in the world having 29 million buffalo. Traditional system of buffalo meat production is inefficient; animals destined for slaughter are mostly culled and old stock. Male calves are not reared specifically for producing meat but they are kept only for milk let down in villages and are slaughtered even at 6-7 days of age in pen-urban areas. So far very little work has been done to evaluate the tremendous meat production potential of buffalo calves with a particular plan of nutrition. Present study consisted of a feeding trial of about three months in duration. Fifteen Nih Ravi calves of approximately the same age and weight were selected for the subject study. The animals were randomly divided into three equal groups which were reared on three different feeding regimes. Group I was fed TMR ad-libitum and 2 kg of green fodder. Group II was fed available green fodder ad-libitum and concentrate ration @ 1% of body weight. Group III was fed Lucerne hay ad-libitum and concentrate ration @ 1% of body weight. . Weighed quantity of feed was offer to every animal on individual feeding basis in a group and refusal was also recorded individually. The results of study revealed that animals fed on TMBR performed better as compared to other feeding regimes. Among three feeding groups, highest (124.60 ± 7.82 kg) weight gain was observed in TMBR group while, lowest (108.20 + 5.80 kg) weight gain was found in Hay group. As far as feed intake is concerned, highest (777.42 + 8.87 kg) feed intake was observed in fodder group while, lowest (755.10 ± 16.61 kg) feed intake was found in TMBR group. Out of three feeding groups, calves fed on TMBR showed best feed conversion ratio (6.07 ± 0.47) while, the feed conversion ratio in calves fed on hay and fodder was 7.04 ± 0.39 and 7.01 ± 0.32 respectively. Economic analysis per kg weight gain revealed that TMBR group had the lowest cost of production in rupees (101.43 ± 7.92) per kg weight gain, where as highest cost of production (130.40± 7.40) was found in hay group. Analysis of variance of serum chemistry means revealed that no significant differences were found in total protein, urea, glucose, and creatinine values for all three feeding regimes. On the basis of results of this study it is concluded that TMBR can be utilized as an alternate for our conventional feeding practices as it can meet all nutritional requirements of the animal. It is easy to handle, transport and store besides having a longer shelf life. It is suggested that further trials with TMBR be carried out on different age and sex groups of buffalo and cattle in order to evaluate its effects on the performance of the animals.
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There has been a gradual decline in per capita availability of proteinous food particularly of animal origin for human consumption in our country. The feasible solution of the problem is to increase the production of meat. The potential of buffalo as a food animal to meet present and future demands of rapidly growing population deserves special attention because of its capacity to economically convert course roughages and other cereal by products into meat.
Pakistan is second largest buffalo holding country in the world having 29 million buffalo. Traditional system of buffalo meat production is inefficient; animals destined for slaughter are mostly culled and old stock. Male calves are not reared specifically for producing meat but they are kept only for milk let down in villages and are slaughtered even at 6-7 days of age in pen-urban areas. So far very little work has been done to evaluate the tremendous meat production potential of buffalo calves with a particular plan of nutrition.
Present study consisted of a feeding trial of about three months in duration. Fifteen Nih Ravi calves of approximately the same age and weight were selected for the subject study. The animals were randomly divided into three equal groups which were reared on three different feeding regimes. Group I was fed TMR ad-libitum and 2 kg of green fodder. Group II was fed available green fodder ad-libitum and concentrate ration
@ 1% of body weight. Group III was fed Lucerne hay ad-libitum and concentrate ration @ 1% of body weight. . Weighed quantity of feed was offer to every animal on individual feeding basis in a group and refusal was also recorded individually.
The results of study revealed that animals fed on TMBR performed better as compared to other feeding regimes. Among three feeding groups, highest (124.60 ± 7.82 kg) weight gain was observed in TMBR group while, lowest (108.20 + 5.80 kg) weight gain was found in Hay group. As far as feed intake is concerned, highest (777.42 + 8.87 kg) feed intake was observed in fodder group while, lowest (755.10 ± 16.61 kg) feed intake was found in TMBR group. Out of three feeding groups, calves fed on TMBR showed best feed conversion ratio (6.07 ± 0.47) while, the feed conversion ratio in calves fed on hay and fodder was 7.04 ± 0.39 and 7.01 ± 0.32 respectively. Economic analysis per kg weight gain revealed that TMBR group had the lowest cost of production in rupees (101.43 ± 7.92) per kg weight gain, where as highest cost of production (130.40± 7.40) was found in hay group. Analysis of variance of serum chemistry means revealed that no significant differences were found in total protein, urea, glucose, and creatinine values for all three feeding regimes.
On the basis of results of this study it is concluded that TMBR can be utilized as an alternate for our conventional feeding practices as it can meet all nutritional requirements of the animal. It is easy to handle, transport and store besides having a longer shelf life.
It is suggested that further trials with TMBR be carried out on different age and sex groups of buffalo and cattle in order to evaluate its effects on the performance of the animals.

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