Effect of energy and protein levels on nutrient utilization and their requirements in growing Murrah buffaloes

Abstract

To evaluate different levels of energy and protein for optimum growth of Murrah male buffalo calves, a growth trial (150 days) was conducted on 30 calves (body weight 202.5 ± 6.8 kg). Six diets were formulated to provide 90, 100 and 110% protein level and 90 and 110% energy level requirements for buffalo calves, derived from ICAR 2013 recommendations for buffaloes. The crude protein (CP) intake was increased with higher dietary CP, whereas no effect of energy levels or interaction between protein and energy was observed on CP intake. There were significant effects (P < 0.01) of the interaction between protein and energy (P < 0.05) on metabolizable energy (ME) intake. The digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and non-fibrous carbohydrate (NFC) was higher (P < 0.0001) in high-energy groups compared to low-energy groups. The CP digestibility increased with the increased CP and ME of the rations. The absorbed N was improved linearly with an increased level of dietary CP, whereas the N retention was similar among all the groups distributed as per different energy or protein levels. The nutrient intake (protein or energy) per kg body weight (BW)(0.75) at various fortnight intervals was regressed linearly from the average daily gain (ADG) per kg BW(0.75). By setting the average daily gain at zero in the developed regression equation, a maintenance requirement was obtained, i.e. 133.1 kcal ME, 6.45 g CP and 3.95 g metabolizable protein (MP) per kg BW(0.75). Requirement for growth was 6.12 kcal ME, 0.46 g CP and 0.32 g MP per kg BW(0.75) per day. Metabolizable amino acid requirement was estimated from partitioning of MP intake and ADG. The ME requirements were lower, whereas the MP requirement of Murrah buffaloes was higher than ICAR (2013) recommendations.

Empirical Evaluation and Prediction of Protein Requirements for Maintenance and Growth of 18–24 Months Old Thai Swamp Buffaloes

“…Nutrient intakes beneath requirements by bull animals results in deferred maturity of the reproduction system and slowed down growth rates [ 9 , 11 , 12 ]. Generally, all of the nutrient intakes on dry-matter (DM) basis increased, when dietary crude protein increased ( p < 0.01, Table 3 ).…”

“…Despite well-recorded studies in maintenance requirement for Thai swamp buffalo, whose performance is similar with the requirement for rumen degradable protein (including non-protein nitrogen, NPN) or protein supplementation either (0.75 g nitrogen (N) or 4.69 g crude protein/ kg BW 0.75 /d [ 6 ]) and net energy to convert feed N at energy intake (roughly 2.20 Mcal/kg DM [ 7 , 8 ]), there is no systematic review or investigation on nutrient of Thai growing swamp buffaloes at present. The Thai feeding standard for growing swamp buffalo is currently based on those reports on growing Thai-indigenous beef cattle [ 9 ], and early published prescriptions from similar temperate countries observed in Nili-Ravi buffalo [ 10 ], Murrah swamp buffalo [ 11 ], and general nutrient requirements of beef cattle [ 12 ]. Of note, the nutrient requirement of Thai growing swamp buffaloes might be varied compared to respective aforementioned bull species due to differences in genotype, physical growth, growth spurt related to genes, feedstuff quality, topography landscape, and climatic condition [ 10 ].…”

“…Several sophisticated techniques have been reported to investigate the estimation of nutrient requirements, including energy balance and N mass balance tests with metabolism trials, comparative slaughters on different feeding levels with varied stunning methods, estimation of endogenous N losses in animals calculated by factorial perspective after dietary low- and high-protein diets, and analysis of intake versus performance data in feeding trials [ 3 , 8 , 10 , 11 ]. The regression analysis of feeding trial data facilitates the corroborated estimation of the nutrient requirements of producing buffaloes domesticated under prevailing farm feeding conditions [ 10 ].…”

“…The regression analysis of feeding trial data facilitates the corroborated estimation of the nutrient requirements of producing buffaloes domesticated under prevailing farm feeding conditions [ 10 ]. The latter strategy regards a set of statistical processes for estimating the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables on nutrient requirements in an effective, dynamic manner, in such a way that could generate nutrient requirements at low-cost, without requiring slaughtering of animals; hence, such an approach has been widely used [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 ]. However, the empirical evaluation and prediction of protein requirements for the maintenance and growth of Thai swamp buffaloes has not yet been observed.…”

Replacing groundnut cake with gluten meals of rice and maize in diets for growing Sahiwal cattle

“…It is consistent with previous findings [ 4 ]. Others [ 20 , 21 ] also found a lack of influence of source and levels of dietary protein on DMI in growing cattle/buffaloes. Yet, the actual intake of DM and CP in the present study fulfilled the nutrient requirements of calves [ 12 ].…”