Abstract

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This study evaluated the effect of dietary supplementation of poly-herbal mixture and butyric acid on the milk yield, milk quality and somatic cell counts in Murrah buffaloes up to 90 days of lactation. Thirty six Murrah buffaloes were divided into four groups viz.; T0 control (n=9; Body Weight (BW)=666.22±31.30 kg, Most Probable Production Ability (MPPA)=1834 kg, Parity (P)=3.44) without any supplementation, T1 (n=9; BW=661.89±42.13 kg, MPPA=1860 kg, P=3.56) poly-herbal mixture, T2 (n=9; BW=664.22±14.81, MPPA=1907 kg, P=3.33) poly-herbal mixture + butyric acid and T3 (n=9; BW=672.00±17.97, MPPA=1891 kg, P=3.44) butyric acid on the basis of MPPA and P. In T1 group poly-herbal mixture was supplemented for seven days postpartum and in T2 group poly-herbal mixture was supplemented for seven days post-partum along with butyric acid for 30 days pre-partum and 30 days post-partum. In T3 group only butyric acid was supplemented for 30 days during pre-partum and 30 days post-partum periods. The results depicted that milk yield (T1-9.91±1.10, T2-9.72±1.18, T3-9.47±1.38 and T0-8.62±0.97 kg/day), fat corrected milk yield (6%) (T1-18.23±2.03, T2-18.45±2.28, T3-17.79±2.59 and T0-15.59±1.77 kg/day) and average total solid (T1-17.34±0.3, T2-17.80±0.40, T3-17.43±0.29 and T0-6.74±0.25) were significantly higher (P<0.05) in supplemented (T1, T2 and T3) groups as compared to control group (T0). No significant change in milk protein, lactose and SNF but the values was on higher side in treatment group. Somatic cell count (SCC) was significantly (P<0.05) lower in poly-herbal mixture and butyric acid supplemented groups as compared to control group. From the present study it was concluded that poly-herbal mixture and butyric acid supplementation during transition period has beneficial effect in improving milk production and udder health.

In order to study the effect of feeding graded levels of green vegetables on egg production performance and egg yolk antioxidant status, 27 female golden pheasants (GP) were randomly distributed into three groups of nine each in an experiment based on completely randomized design. The diets of the birds in groups T , T and T contained 1.4%, 2.7% and 5.0% of green vegetables respectively. Feeding of experimental diets started on 12th February (day 1) and was continued till 30 June 2012. Average number of eggs laid and egg mass produced by the hens in group T was higher (p < 0.004) than those of T and T . Hen day egg production was lowest (p < 0.001) in group T . Roche yolk colour score was highest (p < 0.01) in T followed by T and was lowest in T . Other external and internal egg quality parameters were similar among the groups. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of egg yolk was higher (p < 0.04) in group T as compared to other two groups. Egg yolk concentration of total carotenoids, β-carotene, total sulfhydryl, protein-bound sulfhydryl and non-protein-bound sulfhydryl was higher (p < 0.05), whereas concentration of malondialdehyde was lower (p < 0.024) in group T as compared to other two groups. Excreta concentration of corticosterone was highest (p < 0.012) in T , followed by T , and was lowest in T . Egg yolk concentration of TAC and TSH was positively and that of malondialdehyde was negatively correlated with carotenoids intake. Excreta concentration of corticosterone was negatively correlated with carotenoids intake. It was concluded that incorporation of green vegetables in the diet at 5% on dry matter basis would improve egg production, egg yolk antioxidant status and the ability of the captive GP to combat stress.

ObjectiveThis experiment investigated the effect of isonitrogenous replacement of groundnut cake (GNC) by rice gluten meal (RGM) and maize gluten meal (MGM) at 75% level on nutrient intake, apparent digestibility, growth performance and related blood constituents in growing Sahiwal cattle.MethodsEighteen Sahiwal calves were divided into three groups, based on average body weight (87.24 kg) and age (6 to 12 mo), and treatments were assigned to the different groups randomly. The first group (GP-I) was kept as control and received GNC-based concentrate mixture. In second (GP-II) and third (GP-III) groups, 750 g/kg nitrogen (N) of GNC was substituted by RGM and MGM respectively, with similar forage:concentrate ratio (56:44).ResultsThe 90 days of experimental feeding revealed that intake of dry matter, crude protein and digestibility coefficients for all nutrients did not differ among groups. Furthermore, although N balance was greater (p≤0.05) for GP-III than GP-I and GP-II, average daily gain was similar between GP-I and GP-II but greater (p≤0.05) for GP-III. In addition, feed efficiency and related haematological variables did not differ due to treatments.ConclusionNutritional worth of GNC and RGM was highly comparable in terms of intake, digestibility and growth in growing calves. However, MGM was found to be more efficacious in improving growth rate than RGM at 75% replacement level of GNC protein.