Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode-673576, India
1Department of Statistics, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode-673576, India
2Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy-680651, India
3Departemnt of LPM, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode-673576, India
A study was conducted for the comparative evaluation of conventional and pineapple waste-based total mixed ration (TMR) in dairy cows based on their production performance. Two isonitrogenous and isocaloric complete rations, CON with conventional feed ingredients and PAW by replacing one-third of maize of the CON ration with pineapple waste, respectively, were formulated. A feeding trial of 90 d duration was conducted in dairy cows yielding approximately 10 litres of milk per day and within ten days of lactation. It was found that the body weight, DMI and the milk yield of cows fed on CON and PAW diets started increasing from the first fortnight onwards and were similar between treatments (P>0.005) in all the fortnights. The average daily milk yield of cows fed on ration PAW (12.94 kg) was significantly higher (P<0.01) than those fed on CON (11.94 kg). The milk composition parameters were similar (P>0.05) between treatments. These findings indicate that pineapple waste can be used to substitute maize and can be successfully incorporated in paddy straw based complete ration containing 35% NDF for lactating dairy cows.
Complete ration, Dairy cow, Milk yield, Pineapple waste, Unconventional feeds
