EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DIETARY ENERGY LEVELS ON MILK PRODUCTION IN LACTATING NILI-RAVI BUFFALOES

Published: November 19, 2011

By: M.A. Jabbar, M. Fiaz, T.Iqbal, M. Abdullah and I. B. Marghazani

Summary

Multiparous lactating Nili-Ravi buffaloes (n= 27) were selected and randomly divided into three groups with nine animals in each under a completely randomized design. Three diets were formulated, being iso-nitrogenous diets but varying energy, viz; A=100 (Control), B=80 and C=120 percent of the NRC level recommended for lactating cows, with each group of animals being fed one of these diets. Milk yield did not differ between diets A and C (10.63±0.165 and 10.87±0.124 kg/day, respectively) but was lower (P<0.05, 8.41±0.135 kg/day) on diet B. Dry matter intake (DMI), daily gain and milk composition did not differ (P>0.05) among the dietary treatments. However, feed efficiency in terms of fat corrected milk (FCM) per unit /DMI was lower (P<0.05) in animals fed diet B (0.89 ± 0.019) than in animals fed either of the other two dietary treatments. Likewise, cost of feed per kg FCM was higher (P<0.05) on diet B (17.85 ± 0.28 PKR). It was concluded that feeding lactating Nili- Ravi buffaloes a diet containing more ( i.e., 120 %) than the NRC level of ME recommended for large breed dairy cows conferred no advantage whilst feeding a diet containing less than the recommended level decreased both milk production and feed efficiency. (Abbreviations: : CP, crude protein; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; ADF, acid detergent fiber; ADG, average daily gain; DMI, dry matter intake; NRC, National Research Council; ME, metabolizable energy; PKR, Pakistan rupees) Keywords: Dietary energy levels, lactation performance, NRC, Nili-Ravi Buffalo

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