Effect of Concentrate Feed and Crop Residue Based Complete Feed Block on Nutrient Utilization, Growth and Physiological Performance of Beetal Kids under Stall-fed Conditions

摘要

To study the effect of two concentrate feed (20% CP, T-C (Control) vs 25% CP, T-HP) and a crop residue based feed block (T-FB) on nutrient utilization, growth and physiological performances, 18 Beetal kids of 3.5 months were randomly divided into three groups with 6 animals in each. Kids of T-C and T-HP were fed with green fodder ad lib and wheat straw @ 5% of fodder offered, whereas, kids of T-FB were fed only crop residue based complete feed block. After 180 days, the body weight gain of T-C and T-HP were similar but significantly (P< 0.05) higher than T-FB. The digestibilities of OM, CP, NDF and total carbohydrates were also higher in kids of T-C and T-HP than T-FB. The DCP intake and nitrogen retention was higher in T-C and T-HP kids. The total nitrogen outgo remained similar in all the groups. Barring few exceptions, haematological and biochemical profiles among various treatment groups were almost similar and within normal range. Both T-3 and T-4 had elevated trend in T-HP and T-C, whereas, it declined in T-FB group. It was concluded that optimum feed utilization and growth can be obtained in goat kids fed with concentrate mixture with 20% CP along with ad lib green fodder under stall-fed conditions. Further, increasing the CP content in concentrate mixture has no additional advantage and crop residue based complete feed can meet only the maintenance and partial growth requirements of the animals.