A complete diet was formulated using pressure cooked (30min. I5psi and 121°C) rapeseed meal at 15% level and processed into mash. One third of mash was subjected to expander-extruder processing and while another one third was to steam pelleting. These diets were compared with a conventional diet (containing concentrate mixture, chopped sorghum straw and sorghum silage) by feeding to 24 lactating Murrah buffaloes for 6 months (6 in each group) to study the effect of processing of complete diet on nutrient utilization and milk production. The DMI was comparable on all the diets. The DCP and TDN contents were significantly (P<0.05) higher on pelleted diets. The conventional diet was comparable with mash group. The digestibility coefficients except for EE were higher (P<0.05) in pelleted diets when compared to mash and conventional. Total milk and FCM yields were higher P<0.05 pelleted compared to mash or conventional diet. Cost of feed/kg milk yield was less in processed complete diet These results indicated that nutrient utilization was improved due to processing of complete diet which resulted in increased milk production. Pelleting of mash either by expander-extruder or steam pelleting had similar effect on nutrient digestibility and milk production in Murrah buffaloes.
Rapeseed meal, feed processing, complete diet, milk production, buffaloe
