Abstract
Present study was conducted on 18 lactating Gir cows selected after attaining peak yield to assess the effect of feeding different levels of Hedge lucerne (Desmanthus virgatus) on milk production and milk composition. Cows were divided into three groups having six animals in each group on the basis of body weight, daily milk yield and parity, and randomly allotted to three dietary treatments, i.e., T1 (control) routine feeding adopted at cattle breeding farm, T2 - 75% CP from concentrate and 25% CP from Hedge lucerne, and T3 - 50% CP from concentrate and 50% CP from Hedge lucerne. Overall dry matter intake (kg/day) was found non-significantly different among treatment groups. Mean daily milk yield recorded over entire experimental period of 120 days was 7.48±0.92, 7.82±0.78 and 7.19±0.47 in T1, T2 and T3 groups, respectively, which did not differ statistically. Non-significant difference was also recorded in milk fat (%). However, there was significant difference between groups in terms of lactose, protein and SNF content of milk. It might be due to change in the ratio of concentrate: roughage in the diets of experimental animals.
The full text of this article is available as a PDF.
Download PDF- Bakshi, M., & Wadhwa, M. (2004). Evaluation of forest tree leaves of semi-hilly arid region as livestock feed. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 17(6), 777-783.
- Cook, B.G., Pengelly, B.C., Schultze-Kraft, R., Taylor, M., Burkart, S., Cardoso Arango, J.A., González Guzmán, J.J., Cox, K., Jones, C., & Peters, M. (2020). Tropical Forages: An Interactive Selection Tool. 2nd revised edn., International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.
- Elgersma, A., Smit, H.J., Tas, B.M., Taweel, H.Z., Dijkstra, J., Boer, H., & Tamminga, S. (2002). Effect of perennial ryegrass cultivar on intake of fresh grass and milk production. X European Workshop
- Techniques for Investigating Intake and Ingestive Behaviour by Farm Animals, Reykjavik. pp. 4-4.
- ICAR (2013). Daily nutrient requirements of lactating cows under tropical conditions. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India.
- Snitwong, C., Jindatajak, Y., & Namta, S. (2002). Use of hedge lucerne leaf meal in dairy cows: III. Hedge lucerne leaf meal as protein supplement in roughage-based ration of dairy cows. Animal Nutrition Division Annual Research Report, Department of Livestock Development, Bangkok, pp. 204-214.
- Vinothraj, S., Alagesan, P., Saravanakumar, S., & Srinivasan, R.D. (2019). Impact of mixed fodder cultivation in dairy cattle milk yield. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 8(3), 1000-1003.
Looking up citing articles…
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2024 Indian Journal of Veterinary Sciences & Biotechnology