Animal Nutrition Division, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar243 122, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
Deoiled mahua (Bassia latifolia) seed cake (DMSC) ammoniated with 7% urea (w/w) (T2) was fed (4kg having 25% DM) to 4 cross bred calves and 0.6Kg deoiled mustard cake (DMC) (T1) to another lot of 4 calves (1-1½y) The ration were formulated for an expected growth of 600 g/d. The basal diet of each calf consisted of wheat straw ad lib with deoiled rice bran @ 3.5 Kg and available green fodder @ 2 kg/head/day during 120 d experimental period. Urea-ammoniated (UA) DMSC supplementation (T,) improved DM and CP intake significantly (P<0.01) than DMC (T1) though the intake of DCP(492.5±11.0 vs 466.1±20.6 g) and TDN (3.2±0.05 vs 3.3±0.02 1g) were similar in both the groups. Daily weight gain in group T and T was 567.2±40.2 and 565.1±1.35 g, respectively. It is confirmed that UA-DMSC had half the energy value than DMC and could be recommended as NPN carrier for N-deficient ruminants.
