Growth Performance and Carrying Capacity of Soybean By-products for Ongole Crossbreed (PO) Cattle

摘要

Background and Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance of Ongole Crossbreed (PO) cattle fed soybean by-products as a substitution for roughage. Methodology: Twenty PO cattle at 1.5 years of age were used in this study and were given 4 feeding treatments (T1:70% concentrate without tofu waste and 30% grass, T2:70% concentrate containing tofu waste, 15% grass and 15% soybean pods, T3:70% concentrate containing tofu waste and 30% soybean pods and T4:70% concentrate containing tofu waste and 3-0% fermented soybean pods). Each treatment was applied to 5 animals as a replication. The average crude protein content and Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) of each feed combination were 14 and 70%, respectively. The parameters measured were as follows: (1) Average daily gain, (2) Dry matter intake, (3) Feed efficiency and (4) Rumen characteristics (i.e., rumen microbes, nitrogen retention, protozoa, allantoin and microbial protein synthesis). Results: The results indicate that cattle given 70% concentrate containing tofu waste with 30% fermented soybean pods (T4) performed well in terms of final body weight, average daily gain, dry matter intake and feed efficiency compared to the other treatments. At the end of the experiment, cattle that received T4 had a higher (p<0.05) final body weight compared to those that received the other treatments. Additionally, cattle fed 70% concentrate containing tofu waste with 30% fermented soybean pods showed a steady increase in average daily gain and showed better performance relative to those that received the other treatments. Cattle fed 70% concentrate containing tofu waste, 15% grass and 15% soybean pods and 70% concentrate containing tofu waste with 30% fermented soybean pods had higher dry matter intake compared to those that received the other treatments. The average feed efficiency of cattle fed T1 during phase 1 was higher than T2, T3 and T4, which was closely related to the average daily gain and dry matter intake. Along with the increased live weight, there was a significant change in average daily gain, which increased significantly in phase 2 and decreased in phase 3. Significant compensatory growth was observed during phase 2, cattle showed optimum growth, which was indicated by a significant increase in the average daily gain at 0.52-1.55, 0.85-1.31 and 1.09-1.41 kg day–1 in cattle fed T2, T3 and T4, respectively. During phase 3, the average daily gain of cattle of all feeding treatments decreased by 0.51 kg day–1 (T1), 0.93 kg day–1 (T2), 0.50 kg day–1 (T3) and 0.75 kg day–1 (T4). Based on the waste production analysis, the carrying capacity of soybean waste for cattle production was approximately 8 AU ha–1. Conclusion: Overall, this study suggested that the combination of 70% concentrate containing tofu waste with 30% fermented soybean pods resulted in a better performance of Ongole Crossbreed (PO) cattle, especially in final body weight, average daily gain and feed efficiency. Rumen characteristics of cattle fed all feeding treatments showed similar results, meaning that the conditions of the rumen were not significantly influenced by feeding treatment.