Effect of Altering Level of DM and RDP on Production Performance of Dairy Cattle

An on-farm study was conducted to evaluate the effect of altered level of DM and RDP on the productive performance of dairy cattle. According to days in lactation, 12 animals were distributed into mid, early and late lactation groups of 4 animals each. Observation period was of 60 d duration. Comparison between the nutrients offered and those required as per NRC (1989) revealed great discrepancy. The levels of feeding (per cent) by the farmer to early, mid and late lactation groups were DM 131, 114 and 120; RDP 92, 91 and 81; UDP 119, 115 and 140; respectively. High intake of DM was adding to the heat stress. On the basis of discrepancies observed, modifications like cessation of wheat straw, adjusting RDP by adding urea were made in the feeding schedule. To evaluate these modifications, a test trial with 10 animals (5 animals in test and 5 in control group) was conducted and an increase of 2.24 kg/animal/d (13.3%) in milk production was observed. In the 5th week while there was a drop of 800 g in milk production over that of the previous week's production in the control group, the drop in test group was only 180 g/animal/d, indicating lower heat stress in the test group. Therefore, the present study revealed that under field conditions, there is a need for the critical evaluation of feeding level of nutrients to improve economics and production performance of dairy cattle.