B. K. Roy
Senior Scientific Officer
Animal Production Research Division
Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute
Savar, Dhaka-1341
K. S. Huque
CSO
Animal Production Research Division
Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute
Savar, Dhaka-1341
M. K. Alam
Animal Production Research Division
Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute
Savar, Dhaka-1341
N.R. Sarker
PSO
Animal Production Research Division
Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute
Savar, Dhaka-1341
Milk replacer,Calf, Feeding
APRD, BLRI, Savar, Dhaka
Quality and Nutrition
Place of the study
The present study was conducted at the Cattle farm, Patutia BLRI, Savar, Dhaka-1341.
Experimental animals and dietary treatments
A total of 24 local calves (BLRI Cattle Breed-1; 20 calves and Red Chittagong Cattle; 4 calves) of about 6-10 days of age were selected and divided in four groups; having six (6) calves in each. Experimental calves were reared under group feeding management practices followed in BLRI cattle farm. A limited suckling with feeding whole milk considered as control (To), suckling along with feeding of wheat, shoti and soybean based milk replacer considered as treatments and denoted as T1, T2 and T3 respectively. However, the amount of milk fed by the calves under both groups (control & treatment) through suckling in the morning and evening were quantified through weighing calves just before and after suckling with the help of a platform digital balance.
Housing and feeding experimental diets
The experimental calves were housed in an open calf shed, where group-feeding approaches were practiced. The calf shed provided with feed trough for feeding concentrate mixture and green grass and a plastic bucket for feeding water. All calves under control and treatment groups were supplied an iso-nitrogenous diet (CP content 25%) at a rate of 10% of their body weight. Calves were fed whole milk or milk replacer twice daily at 08:00 and 16:00h using a plastic bottle. Before feeding the calves, fresh milk was collected from bulk collection, filtered to remove extraneous materials and boiled at 1000C for 20 minutes. Then, it was cooled to 37 0C and supplied to the calves. Incase of replacer, the formulated powder was added in hot boiled water maintaining a ratio of 1:7 (milk replacer powder: water), so that the protein content of liquid milk replacer contained similar to milk and cooled down to 37 0C and then fed to calves. Green grass and concentrate mixture were supplied adlib after 2 weeks of age. The experiment was carried out for a period of 50 days.
Measurement of body weight
The calves were weighed initially just after arrival and weekly thereafter by a platform digital balance. Each calf was weighed in the morning before feeding. The experiment was carried out for a period of 50 days. The total live weight gain was calculated by subtracting the initial weight from the final weight taken at the experimental period and the daily weight gain was calculated by dividing the total weight gain by the number of experimental days.
Estimation of feed intake
The daily feed intake was measured by subtracting the amount of refusals from the amount of feed offered in the previous day. During feeding trial, the total intake i.e., the actual intake of milk, milk replacer, amount of green grass and concentrate fed by the animals were recorded on daily basis. Incidences of diseases were also observed daily to evaluate the health status of calves.
BLRI. Annual Research Review workshop, 2011-12. BLRI, Savar, Dhaka.
Report/Proceedings