Division of Animal Nutrition, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar - 243 122, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
The neem seed kernel cake (NSKC) soaked overnight in a solution of 3% NnOH (w/w) was fed for ISO d to nude (3½ to 4 y age) crossbred cattle (3) and murrah buffalo (5) @ 1 kg along with a basal ration of 1.5 kg deoiled rice bran containing adequate minerals, salt and ad lib. wheat straw in addition to vitamin-A supplement at regular intervals. Doth cattle and buffalo bulls were in positive N-balance (32.1±6.2 and 41.4±2.0 g/d) and grew @ 394.4±66.3 and 498.9±26.6 g/d, respectively. The intake of DCP was though slightly higher, that of TDN was within the stipulated standards. The animals neither showed any clinical sign of ill-health during experimental feeding nor their vital organs revealed any gross pathological changes at the end of experiment when the animals were sacrificed. It indicated the possibility of successful detoxification of NSKC by alkali treatment without washing, which otherwise led to about 25% DM loss besides avoiding need of extra labour and voluminous clean water. Thus alkali treated NSKC can be a suitable substitute of conventional oil cake in the ration of ruminants.
