DIGESTIBILITY OF NUTRIENTS AND BALANCE OF NITROGEN AND ENERGY IN BUFFALO FED WHEAT STRAW ALONGWITH OIL SEED CAKES OF DIFFERENT DEGRADABILITY

摘要

An experiment was conducted on 12 male buffaloes divided into 3 groups to evaluate 3 rations viz. wheat straw + groundnut cake (Group I), wheat straw + cotton seed cake (Group II) and wheat straw + mustard cake (Group III), having low, high and mediumlevels of undegradable dietary protein (UDP). Animals were provided 75% of DCP recommended by NRC (1971) and ME as per Khan et al. (1988). Metabolism trial cum respiration chamber studies were conducted after adapting the animals on these diets for about a month. The RDP values on DM basis were 33.14, 15.48 and 24.40 per cent in GNP, CSC and MSC respectively. Results revealed no significant differences in the digestibility coefficients of different nutrients except CP and EE which were significantly (P<0.05) lower and higher in group II than other groups. Balance of nitrogen (g/d) was 9.12±1.69, 2.68±2.58 and 3.67±2.16 and balance of energy (Kcal/kg W~(0.75)/d) was 3.40±0.54, -1.02±4.35 and -5.42±3.10 in group I, II and II, respectively, indicating no statistical differences. Negative energy balance indicated that rations having high and medium UDP provided insufficient energy to the animals. DCP and ME intake in group I was slightly higher (6.14 and 5.43 per cent respectively) while the intakes in group II and III were actually lower being 20.85 and 15.7 per cent for group II and 2.83 and 5.0 per cent for group III respectively.