Division of Dairy Cattle Nutrition, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132 001, India.
Online published on 21 January, 2012.
Twelve female Murrah buffalo calves (7-9 months) were divided into three groups of four each and fed on untreated (Group A) and 3 and 4% NH3 treated (Groups B and C) wheat straw as basal roughage. The concentrate mixtures was fed to all the three groups as per requirements. The DM consumption of animals was not significantly different in the three groups. The digestibilities of DM, OM, CF, NDF, ADF and cellulose increased significantly (P <0.0i) in groups B and C as compared to group A. The DCP intake (g/day) and TDN intake (kg/day) was also significantly (P<0.05) higher in groups B and C as compared to group A. The DCP of 3% NH3 treated straw increased from 0 to 5.28% and the TDN increased from 40.10 to 47.20%.
