Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, (Andhra Pradesh).
*Corresponding author: Dr. D. Nagalakshmi, Associate Professor
An on farm experiment for duration of 180 days was conducted with 12 graded Murrah buffaloes in first or second lactation (488.8 kg ± 5.92) (belonging to two farmers) (6 each) to evaluate the effect of feeding expander extruder processed complete diet containing maize cobs. The animals in each farm were divided in 2 groups. First group was fed with expander extruder complete diet (28.5% maize cobs) and second group was fed with conventional diet containing concentrate mixture, green fodder and sorghum straw. Daily milk yield was comparable between both the groups while DM intake was lower (P<0.01) in buffaloes fed complete diet (2.71 kg/100kg body weight) than those fed conventional diet (3.71 kg/100 kg body weight). The buffaloes in both the groups could meet the DM and protein requirements as per the Kearl standards. The feed efficiency (DM intake/kg milk yield) was higher (P<0.01) on complete diet than on conventional diet. Blending of maize cobs along with concentrates and its expander extrusion reduced (P<0.01) the cost of production by 16.29%. The results of this on farm study indicated that maize cobs could be incorporated in rations of dairy cattle without any adverse effect on milk production.
Buffaloes, Complete diets, Expander extruder, Maize cobs, Milk
