Effect of Replacing Groundnut Cake with Guar Meal (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) in Concentrate Mixture with and without Added Sweetener and Flavour on Production Performance of Sahiwal Cows

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of replacing groundnut cake (GNC) with guar meal in the concentrate mixture on nutrient utilization, milk production and blood metabolites in Sahiwal cows. Eighteen lactating Sahiwal cows selected from Livestock Research Centre, NDRI, Karnal were divided into three equal groups of six animals each based on the lactation number and days in milk (DIM). All the animals were offered a diet consisting of concentrate mixture, green maize fodder and wheat straw in the ratio of 20: 50: 30 on DM basis (T₀), 75% replacement of GNC with guar meal in the concentrate (T₁), 75% replacement of GNC with guar meal + Sucram Sweetener (@ 0.025%) + Lactovanilla Flavour (@ 0.025%) in the concentrate. The duration of study was 90 days. There was no difference among the three groups with regard to DM, CP and TDN intake. Replacement of GNC with guar meal at 75% level in the concentrate mixture did not have any adverse effect on nutrient digestibility. The average milk production and efficiency of milk production in treatment groups (T₁ and T₂) was comparable to control (T₀). There was no adverse effect of replacing GNC with guar meal up to 75% level in the concentrate mixture on blood glucose and blood urea nitrogen. Feeding of guar meal with added sweetener and flavour (T₂) had no significant effect on nutrient intake and milk production as compared to the group fed guar meal without added flavour and sweetener (T₁).