Effect of Supplementation on Production and Quality of Milk in Camel Raised in Kutch Region

Camels in Kutch region of India are raised on browse resources by the pastoralists. Availability of browse resources affects nutritional composition of milk from the species. Supplementation could be of advantage during pregnancy and during the lean season. An experiment was planned to monitor the animals under field conditions to study the preference of various species which contributed to the browse ingested, change in body condition score and quality of milk produced by camels raised on available browse with and without concentrate supplement. Pelleted feed concentrate was prepared with admixture of cotton seed extract, rapeseed extract, rice polish, deoiled rice bran, maize, di calcium phosphate, common salt and molasses. Body condition scores improved with the stage of pregnancy however differences with and without supplement were not observed. Acacia nilotica a tree species was the most preferred plant species followed by Zizyphus nummularia bush, Acacia tortalis tree, Leptidinia reticulata and Piper betle creepers were avidly consumed. Ruminations pattern was observed to be similar in animal’s supplemented concentrate. Milk production increased from 3.68 to 4.05 kg/d and production of 4% FCM also improved from 2.43 to 2.66 kg/d which reflected improvement due to supplementation of concentrate feed. Observations suggest improvement in milk production and its fat content could be achieved in Kutchi camels raised under field conditions.