Eighteen Murrah male calves (15–18 months of age) were divided into 3 groups of 6 each. Bulls in control group were fed concentrate mixture, green fodder and wheat straw, while those in treatment groups were fed on wheat straw and bajra straw based complete feed blocks, having concentrate and wheat! bajra straw in 50:50 along with green fodder as in control group. Average daily gain was higher in animals fed on wheat straw based feed block than those on bajra straw based feed block and control ration. The digestibility of DM, CF and NFE and N balance were higher (P>0.05) in blocks fed groups than in control group. Feed cost per day per animal was reduced by 3.40 percent in WSCFB group and 14.80 percent in BSCFB group, as compared to the control ration. Therefore, it was concluded that feeding of complete feed blocks based on wheat or bajra straw has advantages over conventional method of feeding.
Complete feed block, Nutrient digestibility, N Balance, Feed cost
