|
Matching Livestock Systems with Available Resources |
MEKARN Regional Conference 2007 |
Three rumen-fistulated Sindhi-Yellow cattle were fed a basal diet of rice straw and grass (1% DM basis) and given a drench of 6 ml /kg LW of soybean oil or fish oil in successive 21 day periods according to a 3*3 Latin square arrangement in an on-station trial. Days 1 to 20 in each period were for adaptation. The oil drench was given on day 21 with measurements of of rumen ecology, feed intake and digestibility in successive 7-day sub-periods
The experiment 2 was carried out at a cooperative farm with 15 Sindhi-Yellow growing cattle of 136 to 143 kg live weight, which were allocated to the 3 treatments with 5 replicates per treatment. Animals were fed the same diets as in experiment 1 and kept for 90 days after with or without drenching 6ml/kg LW of soybean oil or fish oil. The cattle were weighed (average of two daily consecutive weighings) at the beginning, and after 30, 60 and 90 days.
The oil drench reduced the protozoa population (89-96%) and increased the numbers of bacteria. There were increases in DM intake and digestibility in cattle by drenching with both soybean oil and fish oil. Growth rates were 18- 20% higher (438 - 444 g/day) for cattle given the oil drench compared with the control (369 g/day). Feed conversion rate of cattle on the oil treatment was improved over control animals.
The oil drench resulted in more profit to the farmer than the system normally practiced