Jimma Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box 192, Jimma, Ethiopia.
School of Animal and Range Sciences, Haramaya University, P.O.Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2024 Aug 7;56(7):236. doi: 10.1007/s11250-024-04020-z.
This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of feeding wheat-straw based densified complete feed block (DCFB) on daily weight gain, feed intake, digestibility and feed conversion rate in growing heifer calves. Eight weaned F1 Frisian*Borena (Bos taurus × Bos indicus) crossbred calves (92.5 ± 27.5 kg body weight) and 5 months of age were randomly distributed into four groups, each with two animals evaluated under 4 × 4 double Latin Square Design for 240 days. The control treatment was natural pasture hay (NPH) and concentrate mix (CM) fed conventionally in a way that covers 50:50% requirements on dry matter (DM) bases and DCFB prepared by mixing wheat straw (WS) to concentrates mixture in the ratio of 50:50 (T2), 40:60 (T3) and 30:70 (T4), respectively. Each heifer group was fed on each diet for 60 days. At the end of each period the last 7 days were used to collect feed and feacal samples. However, the heifers were weighed each 15 days to estimate daily growth performances. It was found that significant (P < 0.05) differences among groups in average daily gain, feed conversion rate, feed intake and digestibility. The densification of WS and feeding in the form of feed block generally improved feed DM and nutrient intake and digestibility. The increase in the proportion of CM in the DCFBs also increased the DM and nutrient intake and digestibility. Heifer growth rate was higher (P < 0.05) in T1, T3 and T4 diets than T2 groups. Feed conversion ratio was higher (P < 0.05) both in T3 and T4 compared to T1 and T2. The total cost of production per each gram body weight gained was recorded higher (P < 0.05) for calves in the T2 group compared to calves in T1, T3 and T4. In conclusion, maintaining post weaned F1 heifer calves on DCFB composed of wheat straw and a commercial calf's concentrate based diet in the ratio of 40 to 60 would both biologically and economically feasible.
本实验旨在研究饲喂小麦秸秆压缩全混日粮块（DCFB）对生长小母牛犊牛日增重、采食量、消化率和饲料转化率的影响。将 8 头断奶 F1 弗里斯兰*博雷纳（Bos taurus×Bos indicus）杂交犊牛（92.5±27.5kg 体重）和 5 月龄随机分为 4 组，每组 2 头，采用 4×4 双重拉丁方设计，240 天。对照组为天然牧场干草（NPH）和常规混合精料（CM），以干物质（DM）的 50:50%的需求比例混合，DCFB 由小麦秸秆（WS）与浓缩物混合物按 50:50（T2）、40:60（T3）和 30:70（T4）的比例混合制成。每头小母牛组分别饲喂每种日粮 60 天。在每个时期结束时，最后 7 天用于收集饲料和粪便样本。然而，每隔 15 天给小母牛称重以估计日增重。结果发现，各组在平均日增重、饲料转化率、采食量和消化率方面存在显著差异（P<0.05）。WS 的压缩和以饲料块的形式喂养通常可以提高饲料 DM 和养分的摄入量和消化率。DCFB 中 CM 比例的增加也增加了 DM 和养分的摄入量和消化率。T1、T3 和 T4 组的小母牛生长速度高于 T2 组（P<0.05）。T3 和 T4 组的饲料转化率均高于 T1 和 T2 组（P<0.05）。每克体重增加的生产成本记录显示，T2 组的小牛高于 T1、T3 和 T4 组的小牛（P<0.05）。总之，用小麦秸秆和商业犊牛浓缩饲料按 40:60 的比例组成的 DCFB 维持断奶后的 F1 小母牛犊牛在生物学和经济上都是可行的。
