Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition

The study was carried out to evaluate the effect of feeding straw based densified complete feed blocks (DCFB) containing dhanwantharam oil residue and tapioca starch waste (TSW) on body weight (BW), dry matter intake (DMI), feed conversion efficiency (FCR) and nutrient digestibility in crossbred heifer calves. Eighteen healthy crossbred calves were divided into three groups of six each as uniformly as possible with regard to age, sex and body weight and each animal was allotted randomly to one of the three dietary treatments: T₁ (straw based densified complete feed block (DCFB), T₂ (DCFB containing 20% dhanwantharam oil residue) and T₃ (DCFB containing 20%TSW). Feeding trial lasted for 90 days. A digestion trial of five days duration was conducted to assess nutrient digestibility. Average daily gain (ADG), DMI and FCR did not differ in crossbred calves of different groups. The apparent digestibility of nutrients also did not differ among the groups. The cost of feeding in group fed with DCFB containing dhanwanthram oil residue was significantly reduced than control group fed with conventional feed blocks. Thus, feeding of straw based DCFB containing dhanwantharam oil residue and TSW are beneficial in terms of feed cost.