Animal Nutrition Section, National Dairy Research Institute, Bangalore-560 030, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
Twenty four Female crossbred (Holstein Frieslan x Zebu) calves (10m ; 100 kg) were divided into two equal groups and fed 125 (Gp I) and 75 (Gp II) percent RDP and 100.percent ME of requirements for 196 d. The average daily weight gain of calves in groups I and II was 388 and 362 g respectively. There was no significant difference in the DM intake and digestibility of nutrients between groups. However, the N excretion in the urine was significantly higher (P<0.01) in group I (51% of intake) than In group II (36% of intake), indicating that the energy level was insufficient to utilize the higher level of RDP in group I.
