Department of Feed & Fodder Technology, College of Veterinary Science, A.P. Agricultural University Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India
Online published on 21 January, 2012.
A digestion and metabolism trial with 12 cross-bred male calves (body wight 105±5 kg) was conducted in a completely randomized design to investigate the effect of processing on the utilization of wood pulp waste as roughage source. The experimental animals were randomly divided into 3 groups of 4 each and fed (1) urea-molasses (2 and 15%, respectively) enriched wood pulp plus 1,5 kg concentrate mixture, (2) complete mash and (3) complete pelleted ration containing wood pulp waste as sole roughage source (48.5%), respectively. Complete rations improved the voluntary feed intake. CP, CF and EE digestibilities and N balance were higher (P-<0.01) on pelleted ration than the other two rations. The digestibilities of DM, OM, NFK and energy were not significantly different among the three groups. Positive N, Ca and P balances were recorded with all the three rations. DCP and TDN intakes were lower with conventional ration and higher with pelleted ration than the recommended levels. Processing of feed, particularly, pelleting showed superiority in nutrient utilisation than the conventional type of feeding. The feeding cost per animal/day was Rs. 2, 58, 2.44 and 3.35 for rations 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
