Performance of Lactating Buffaloes Fed Palm Press Fibre Based Rations

Sixteen lactating buffaloes, divided randomly into four equal groups, were fed rations based on untreated paddy straw (R₁), untreated palm press fibre (PPF; R₂), urea-treated PPF along with concentrate mixture (R₃) and urea-treated PPF with green fodder and concentrate mixture (R₄) to study their nutrient utilization and production performance. The digestibility coefficients of CP, cellulose and hemicelluloses were significantly (P<0.01) higher by 6.44, 7.18 and 0.97; 13.01, 12.89 and 0.59, 10.68, 16.16 and 8.70 and 17.51, 16.16 and 8.71 percentage units, respectively, in buffaloes fed R₃ and R₄ as compared to R₁ and R₂. There was no significant difference in nutrient digestibility between R₃ and R₄. The DCP and TDN values of R₃ and R₄ were significantly (P<0.01) higher than paddy straw and untreated PPF (R₁ and R₂) based rations. Milk yield of lactating buffaloes did not differ significantly among the four groups. The fat and total solids contents were significantly (P<0.05) higher in milk of buffaloes fed with R₃ and R₄ as compared to R₁ and R₂. However, there were no significant differences in fat and total solids of milk produced by buffaloes fed on urea treated PPF containing rations (R₃ vs R₄). It is concluded that urea-treated PPF can replace paddy straw completely without affecting productivity of lactating buffaloes. The cost of feed/kg milk production was lower in rations containing urea-treated PPF than untreated PPF indicating that urea treatment reduces the investment incurred in concentrate mixture.