Department of Animal Nutrition, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
Sixteen Murrah male buffalo calves (10-15m; 108-185kg) were divided into four equal groups and fed with concentrate mixture in which 0 (T1), 20 (T2), 40 (T3) and 60 (T4) per cent CP was replaced with crushed faba (Vicaa faba L.) seed for 150 d. All the concentrate mixtures were nearly isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Rumen pH (4 h post feeding), protozoal and bacterial counts were statistically similar in all the four treatments. No significant variations (P>0.05) in ruminal total-N, ammonia-N and TCA insoluble-N levels were recorded. The molar proportion of acetic, propionic and bytyric acids were unaffected by different treatments.
