The effect of feeding liquid sweet whey on growth performances of calves fed straw based diet

摘要

FifteenFriesianXHolsteincalves(averagebodyweightof104kg±16kg)wereusedinacompleterandomizedblockdesigntoevaluateliquidsweetwheyasafeedforgrowingcalves.Calveswereallottedtotwohomogeneousgroupsaccordingtobodyweightandthenwereblockedbyagewithingroup.Groupswereassignedrandomlytotwotreatmentdiets.Calvesingrouponereceivedacontroldietofwheatstrawandacommercialconcentratemix.Thoseingroup2(theexperimentalgroup)receivedthesamedietasthecontrolfedcalves,butpartoftheconcentratewasreplacedbyliquidsweetwhey.Theexperimentwasconductedover80days.Calveswereadjustedtodietsfor2weeks,priortothestartofthetrial.Duringthetrialcalveswerefedwheyandconcentrateforrestrictedfeedingandwheatstrawforadlibitum.nbsp;Resultsshowedthatanimalsfedtheliquidsweetwheydiethadincreased(P0.05)averagedailygain(624Vs469g/d)andreduced(P0.05)feedconversionratio(5.98Vs7.4kgDM/kgofgain)comparedwithcalvesfedthecontroldiet.Totaldrymatterintakewassimilar(3.47and3.73kg/head/day)forbothdiets,butanimalsfedtheliquidsweetwheyby-productreceivedlessconcentrate.nbsp;Itwasconcludedthat,replacingpartoftheconcentratesupplementwithliquidsweetwheyimprovesaveragedailygainandfeedpergainratioingrowingcalvesfedpoorqualityroughagedietwithoutadverselyaffectinganimalhealthortotaldrymatterintake.Thefeedingofliquidwheytocattleoffersthepossibilityofusinglargequantitiesofby-productnutrientsforaneconomicalproductionofmeatwhiledisposalproblemsandenvironmentalpollutionarealleviated.