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Performance of growing yak calves on different planes of nutrition

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Title Performance of growing yak calves on different planes of nutrition
 
Creator D MEDHI
A SANTRA
A SANTRA
V PAUL
A SAIKIA
P P DAS
E ALI
S M DEB
 
Subject Feed efficiency, Growth performance, Nutrient digestibility, Plane of nutrition, Yak
 
Description 109
Present address: 1Senior Scientist (dinamanimedhi
@gmail.com), 2Principal Scientist (santraashok@rediffmail.com),
ERS, NDRI, Kalyani, West Bengal. 3Senior Scientist
(vpaul.nrcy@gmail.com), 4Senior Research Fellow
(drasishsaikia@gmail.com), CVSc, AAU, Khanapara. 5,6Senior
Research Fellow (dpartha21july@gmail.com, alieyashin
@gmail.com), 7Director (yakdirector@gmail.com).
Only a little investigation has been carried out on nutrient
requirement of yaks (Poephagus grunniens), the hairy
bovine of snow-covered high altitude, due to natural and
social constraints. Yak herdsmen usually do not give any
supplementary feed except some salt at regular interval.
Generally milch and pregnant yaks are fed small amounts
of concentrates in the form of wheat flour or maize flour to
support optimum milk production and normal foetal
development. Information on nutrient requirements of yaks
is scanty. Hence, this study was planned for a period of 360
days in growing yaks to determine their nutrient requirement
for growth based on NRC, 1989 for dairy cattle and
buffaloes.
Four divergent rations were formulated to supply 2 levels
75 and 100% of digestible crude protein (DCP) and 2 levels
e.g. 75 and 100% of total digestible nutrients (TDN)
requirement for 500 g daily body weight gain as
recommended by NRC (1989) for daily cattle and buffaloes.
Four rations, viz. low protein-low energy (LP-LE), low
protein-high energy (LP-HE), high protein-low energy (HPLE)
and high protein-high energy (HP-HE) were prepared
for conducting the animal growth experiment. Yak calves
(24: 12 male and 12 female) of about 1 year of age with an
average body weight of 90.3±1.19 kg, were randomly
divided into 4 groups with 6 animals (3 male and 3 female)
in each. All the experimental animals were fed individually
under stall feeding for 360 days on the mixed ration which
contained concentrate mixture and paddy straw. Green
grasses (Dactylis glomerata) were offered to all the
experimental animals at the rate of 1 kg/animal/day to meet
out their vitamin A requirements. At random one dietary
treatment was allotted to each group. Three digestion trials
Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 86 (11): 1337–1339, November 2016/Short communication
Performance of growing yak calves on different planes of nutrition
D MEDHI1, A SANTRA2, V PAUL3, A SAIKIA4, P P DAS5, E ALI6 and S M DEB7
ICAR- National Research Centre on Yak, Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh 790 101 India
Received: 11 February 2016; Accepted: 13 May 2016
Key words: Feed efficiency, Growth performance, Nutrient digestibility, Plane of nutrition, Yak
Table 1. Composition of the experimental rations
Attribute Experimental ration Paddy straw Dactylis glomerata
LP-LE LP-HE HP-LE HP-HE
Physical composition
Maize grain 19 72 15 52
Wheat bran 68 - 44 -
Ground nut cake 9 24 37 44
Urea 1 1 1 1
Mineral mixture 2 2 2 2
Common salt 1 1 1 1
Chemical composition
OM 93.3 94.2 95.7 95.3 85.6 90.2
CP 15.2 15.4 20.1 19.8 3.4 13.4
EE 1.3 1.5 1.8 1.9 1.4 3.3
NFE 66.3 70.6 64.6 66.1 50.3 52.4
CF 10.5 6.8 9.3 7.6 30.7 20.9
LP-LE, low protein-low energy; LP-HE, low protein-high energy; HP-LE, high protein-low energy; HP-HE, high protein-high
energy.
were conducted on all the experimental yaks at their
different body weights e.g., 100–150, 150–200 and 250–
300 kg (during 120, 240 and 360 days of experimental
period). Blood samples were collected from all the
experimental animals to determine the concentration of
blood metabolites before and after feeding trial.
1338 MEDHI ET AL. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 86 (11)
110
The samples of feed, faeces and residue left were
analyzed for proximate composition according to AOAC
(1990). The data were subjected to statistical analysis (2 ×
2 factorial designs) as per Snedecor and Cochran (1986).
The physical and chemical compositions of different
experimental rations are presented in Table 1. Daily dry
matter intake (DMI)/100 kg body weight was significantly
higher in (LP-LE) group (2.5 kg) than (HE-HP) fed group
(2.2 kg). With higher level of protein and energy along with
better utilization animals could meet their requirements with
less feed intake which might be the reason for low dry matter
intake in HE-HP group. However, daily dry matter intake
per unit body weight in male and female yak calves was
almost similar and their values are in the same trend as
reported by Liu et al. (1997). Several factors like age, body
weight, sex, nature of feed, climatic condition and
management may affect the dry matter (DM) intake in yaks.
Moreover, yaks generally consume less DM than the cattle
and buffaloes, probably because of their smaller rumen
capacity. There is also a correlation between the DM intake
(DMI) and body weights in yaks. Han et al. (1990a)
observed that dry matter intake varied from 1.38 to 2.34
kg/100 kg body weight in 2– to 3–year-old castrated yaks
under stall-fed condition, when the animals are maintained
on green forages, dry roughages, or on diets based on dry
roughages and concentrates. They also observed that values
increased at lower temperature both under stall fed and
grazing conditions. The faster rate of passage of feed at
lower temperature might be the reason for higher intake.
However, in grazing yaks, the DMI was 3.01 and 3.38 kg/
100 kg body weight, when they were maintained on mature
and premature forages, respectively, and this might be due
to the restriction of feed offered (Liu et al. 1997) under
stall feeding conditions. The DMI was 2% of the body
weight in adult yaks (average body weight, 212 kg)
maintained under grazing at an altitude of 4,242 m above
sea level (Basu et al. 2005). Yaks graze comfortably at a
Table 3. Growth performances, nutritive values and plane of nutrition of the experimental yaks
Attributes Experimental groups SEm
LP-LE LP-HE HP-LE HP-HE
Growth performance
Initial body weight (kg) 90.7 90.3 90.1 90.0 2.76
Final body weight (kg) 209.5 228.1 220.5 238.1 6.32
Total body weight gain (kg) 118.8a 137.8b 130.4a 148.1b 4.73
Average daily gain (g) 330.1a 383.3c 362.5b 411.4d 13.15
Feed efficiency
DMI (kg)/kg BW gain 9.9b 8.4a 8.6a 7.9a 0.31
CPI (g)/kg gain in BW 931.1a 790.3a 1074.6b 1034.0b 34.19
TDNI (kg)/kg gain in BW 5.9b 5.1ab 5.2ab 4.8a 0.16
Nutritive value of ration (% DM)
DCP 6.2a 6.3a 8.6b 9.0b 0.52
TDN 57.8a 60.3a 59.0b 60.8b 0.49
Plane of nutrition
CP intake
g/d 398.0a 424.0a 581.5b 595.1b 32.20
g/100 kg BW/d 237.2a 240.3a 303.6b 295.4b 11.59
g/kgW0.75/d 8.2a 8.7a 11.2b 10.7b 0.57
TDN intake
kg/d 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.7 0.12
kg/100 kg BW/d 1.45 1.45 1.31 1.34 0.02
g/kgW0.75/d 52.5 53.2 48.5 47.4 1.08
LP-LE, Low protein low energy; LP-HE, Low protein high energy; HP-LE, High protein low energy; HP-HE, High protein high
energy; DMI, Dry matter intake; CPI, Crude protein intake; TDN, Total digestible nutrients intake; DCP, Digestible crude protein;
TDN, Total digestible nutrients. Means bearing different superscripts within the same raw differ significantly.
Table 2. Feed intake and nutrient digestibility of the
experimental yaks on different planes of nutrition
Attribute Experimental groups SEm
LP-LE LP-HE HP-LE HP-HE
Dry matter intake
kg/day 4.4a 4.6 a 4.5 a 5.0b 0.16
kg/100 kg BW/day 2.5a 2.4ab 2.3ab 2.2b 0.04
g/kgW0.75/day 79.90 78.38 78.64 82.50 1.31
Nutrient digestibility (%)
Dry matter 60.2 61.8 60.8 62.7 0.39
Organic matter 62.5 63.8 62.9 65.1 0.41
Crude protein 65.9 66.7 68.6 69.2 0.56
Ether Extract 67.9 69.1 71.0 72.8 0.76
Crude fibre 61.4b 57.1a 58.7ab 55.6ab 0.87
Nitrogen free extract 63.7 65.5 64.9 66.4 0.40
LP-LE, Low protein low energy; LP-HE, Low protein high
energy; HP-LE, High protein low energy; HP-HE, High protein
high energy. Means bearing different superscripts within the
same raw differ significantly.
November 2016] PERFORMANCE OF GROWING YAK CALVES ON DIFFERENT NUTRITION PLANES 1339
111
temperature as low as –30 to –400C or even lower. In
contrast, at higher temperature, their grazing activity is
reduced resulting in lower feed intake. The DMI in yaks
also depends on the type of feed resources. Feed blocks
with area-specific mineral mixture could supply adequate
nutrients to yaks for supporting optimum growth rate during
winter (Ghosh and Chatterjee 2011a). They recorded the
DMI in growing yaks ranged from 2.17 to 2.70 kg/100kg
body weight.
The dry matter (DM) and organic matters (OM)
digestibility were similar among experimental groups; the
crude fibre (CF) digestibility was higher (P>0.01) in LPLE
group in comparison to HP-HE group.
The experimental rations contained 6.2, 6.3, 8.6 and 9.0%
digestible crude protein (DCP) and 57.8, 60.3, 59.0 and
60.8% total digestible nutrients (TDN) on dry matter basis
in LP-LE, LP-HE, HP-LE and HP-HE groups, respectively.
Average daily gain (ADG) in body weights and feed
conversion efficiency kg dry/kg body weight of the yak in
HE-HP followed by HP-LE, LP-HE and LP-LE groups and
the values were 330.1 and 9.9, 383.3 and 8.4, 362.5 and 8.6
and 411.4 and 7.9 in the group LP-LE, LP-HE, HP-LE and
HP-HE, respectively (Table 2).
The intake of the crude protein (CP) in terms of g/day,
g/100kg body weight and per kg metabolic body weight
differ significantly among the groups. The values were
within the same line as reported by Xue et al. (1994) in
China. However, the intake of total digestible nutrients
(TDN) in terms of g/day, per cent and per kg metabolic
body weights were almost similar among all the groups
indicating no effect of the experimental diets on energy
utilization in growing yaks. Similarity was also observed
in both CP and TDN intakes in male and female
experimental calves.
Higher blood glucose level in HP-HE group in
comparison to other groups; besides non-variability the
values for plasma protein, albumin and blood urea nitrogen
irrespective of their sexes. The study revealed growing yaks
consumed on an average 79.86 g DM, 6.10 g DCP and 47.15
g TDN/kg W0.75/day to support an average body weight
gain of 371.8 g/day during 250 to 300 kg of their body
weight (Table 3).
SUMMARY
Four divergent rations with 2 levels of DCP and TDN
(100 and 75%) namely low protein-low energy (LP-LE),
low protein-high energy (LP-HE), high protein-low energy
(HP-LE) and high protein-high energy (HE-HP) were
supplied to 24 growing yaks (12 male and 12 female)
randomly divided into 4 groups of 6 animals (3 male and 3
female) each in completely randomized design. The average
daily gain and feed efficiency was highest in HE-HP group.
The blood glucose level was highest in HP-HE group in
comparison to the others; however, plasma protein, albumin
and urea levels were almost similar for all the experimental
groups. The study revealed that growing yak calves ranging
from 250 to 300 kg body weight consumed an average 79.86
g DM, 6.10 g DCP and 47.15 g TDN/kg W0.75/day to support
an average body weight gain of 371.8 g/day.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are very much thankful to the Director,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Research
Centre on Yak, Dirang for his financial support for the study
through sanction of the institute project.
REFERENCES
AOAC. 1990. Official Methods of Analysis. 15th edn. Association
of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Basu A, Chatterjee A, Baruah K K and Bhattacharya M. 2005.
Voluntary feed intake and live weight gain in yaks (Poephagus
grunniens L.) grazed on high altitude grassland. Indian Journal
of Animal Sciences 75: 81–83.
Ghosh M K and Chatterjee A. 2011a. Nutrient digestibility and
live weight change in yaks fed maize stover based complete
feed block during winter. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences
81: 427–28.
Han X, Xie A and Hu L. 1990a. Feed intake of growing yak.
Journal of Qinghai Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
Medicine 20: 5–6, 39.
Liu S J, Xie A Y, Wang W B, Xue B and Hu L H. 1997. Study on
the forage intake at different phenological periods in grazing
yak. Journal of Qinghai Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
Medicine 27: 4–8.
NRC. 1989. Nutrient Requirement of Dairy Cattle. 6th rev. edn.
Nati. Acad. Press. Washington, DC, pp. 90–110.
Snedecor G W and Cochran W G. 1986. Statistical Methods. 8th
edn, Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa-50010.
Xue B, Chai S T, Liu S J, Wang W B, Xie A Y, Hu L H, Zhang X
W and Zhao Y P. 1994. Study on the protein requirement of
growing yak. Chinese Journal of Qinghai Animal and
Veterinary Sciences 1:1–4.
Four divergent rations with 2 levels of DCP and TDN
(100 and 75%) namely low protein-low energy (LP-LE),
low protein-high energy (LP-HE), high protein-low energy
(HP-LE) and high protein-high energy (HE-HP) were
supplied to 24 growing yaks (12 male and 12 female)
randomly divided into 4 groups of 6 animals (3 male and 3
female) each in completely randomized design. The average
daily gain and feed efficiency was highest in HE-HP group.
The blood glucose level was highest in HP-HE group in
comparison to the others; however, plasma protein, albumin
and urea levels were almost similar for all the experimental
groups. The study revealed that growing yak calves ranging
from 250 to 300 kg body weight consumed an average 79.86
g DM, 6.10 g DCP and 47.15 g TDN/kg W0.75/day to support
an average body weight gain of 371.8 g/day.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Research Centre on Yak, Dirang
 
Date 2017-08-03T10:52:20Z
2017-08-03T10:52:20Z
2016-11-01
 
Type Research Paper
 
Identifier MEDHI, D, SANTRA, A., PAUL, V., SAIKI, A., DAS, P P, ALI, E., and DEB, S. M.
Not Available
http://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/handle/123456789/5052
 
Language English
 
Relation Not Available;
 
Publisher ICAR (Indian Journal of Animal Sciences)