Effect of Betaine Supplementation on Growth Performance of Growing Murrah Buffalo Calves

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of betaine (BET) supplementation on growth performance of Murrah buffalo calves. Twenty-one Murrah buffalo calves with body weight (BW) of 98.70+1.31 kg and age of 8.12+0.55 months were selected and randomly distributed into three groups, 7 calves in each group. The diet of all three groups was the same except that the diet of respective group additionally supplemented with 0, 7, and 14 g/d BET during 90 d of the experiment period. The BW and average daily dry matter intake (DMI) were recorded at fortnightly intervals. Blood samples were taken on fortnightly intervals for the estimation of liver enzymes. There was an improvement (P<0.05) in the BW and average daily gain (ADG) in calves receiving 7 or 14 g/d BET. However, DMI was unaffected with the supplementation BET. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly (P<0.05) lower in group supplemented with betaine either at 7 or 14 g/ d than in the control group. No effect of dietary BET addition in the diets of calves was observed on the alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). The results of our study indicate that supplemental BET may play a positive role in regulating the growth of growing Murrah buffalo calves.