B. K. Roy
Animal Production Research Division, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Savar, Dhaka 1341.
K. S. Huque
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
Animal Production Research Division, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Savar, Dhaka 1341.
Milk replacer, Shoti, Wheat, Soybean, Daily gain, FCR.
Cattle Farm, Patutia BLRI, Savar, Dhaka-1341
Postharvest and Agro-processing
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 calves in each. The calves were reared under group feeding management practices followed in BLRI cattle farm. A limited sucking with feeding whole milk considered as control (T0), sucking along with feeding of wheat, shoti and soybean based milk replacer considered as treatment and denoted as T1, T2 and T3 respectively. However, the amount of milk fed by the calves under both groups (control and treatment) through sucking in the morning and evening were quantified through weighing calves before and after sucking with the help of a platform digital balance. Housing and feeding experimental diets: The calves were housed in an open calf shed, where group-feeding approaches were practiced. The calf shed provided with feed through 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 100? for 20 minutes.Then,it was cooled to 37? and supplied to the calves. Incase of replacer, the formulated powder was added in hot boiled water maintaining a ration 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? and then fed to calves. SGreen 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 end of 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 thr 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. Cost of milk replacer: The cost involved for preparation of milk replacer was calculated using market price of all individual ingredient. The cost involved per kg shoti powder (including cost of shoti collection, processing and grinding), wheat flour, soy powder (including processing cost). Soybean meal, rice flour, soybean oil, di-calcium phosphate (DCP), vitamin-premix and common salt were TK. 140.00, TK. 42.00, TK. 50.00, TK. 30.00, TK. 135.00, TK. 80.00, TK. 360.00 and TK. 20.00, respectively. The total cost of per kg wheat based MR, shoti based MR and soybean based MR were TK. 52.69, TK. 94.45 and TK 51.11, respectively. Chemical analysis of experimental diets: Representative samples of feed, milk replacer and whole milk were clinically analyzed for dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and crude fiber. The acid detergent fiber (ADF) was determined. The percent fat and protein content in milk samples were also determined by using Lactostar (Funke Gerber, model no. 3510-080203; 2008). Blood collection and Plasma biochemical assay: The blood samples were collected in the morning prior to feeding of the jugular vein into EDTA (20 IU heparin/ml blood) tubes at fortnightly interval. Immediately after sampling, the blood was placed in ice box and taken to laboratory. To separate plasma from the cells, blood samples were centrifuged at 300 rpm for 15-20 minutes and the plasma were separated and stored in refrigerator (-20?) in different aliquots for the analysis of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and plasma glucose. The blood urea nitrogen and glucose were determined by using a commercial kit (blood urea nitrogen kit & blood glucose kit) at Serology laboratory under Animal Health Research Division, BLRI, Savar, Dhaka-1341. Statistical analysis: Data were subjected to analysis of variance (Steel and Torrie, 1980) for a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Treatment means were compared by using LSD. All the analysis was carried out using SPSS programme.
BLRI. Proceedings of Annual Research Review Workshop 2011-2012, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Savar, Dhaka 1341.
Report/Proceedings