Vol. 10, Special Issue 7 (2021)

Author(s):
Kamalahasan K and Sabin George

Abstract:
Eighteen healthy crossbred calves both male and female around one week of age were selected and randomly divided into three groups of six each (T1, T2, and T3), as uniformly as possible with regard to age, sex, and body weight. The calves of T1 received whole milk as per routine farm practice, T2 group was offered whole milk plus commercial milk replacer as per manufacturers recommendation and T3 group was offered a formulated milk replacer @ 12.5 per cent of body weight. All the calves received ad libitum green fodder. The milk and milk replacers of T1, T2 and T3 had 25.68±0.14, 20.63±0.14 and 24.85±0.11 per cent crude protein, respectively. The calf starter and green fodder contained 21.4±0.44and 12.18±0.14 per cent crude protein. The average daily dry matter intake (DMI) in dietary treatments T1, T2, and T3 were 0.800±0.04, 0.701±0.01, and 0.640±0.01 kg, respectively. The dry matter intake of crossbred calves was significantly different in 3rd, 5th and 6th fortnight. The mean cumulative feed conversion efficiency was 2.61±0.13, 3.50±0.44 and 2.59±0.26 for T1, T2, and T3 respectively. The feed conversion efficiency was statistically non-significant among the dietary treatments. Thus raising of crossbred claves under formulated milk replacer feeding could be better option for dairy farmers.