Effect of Bedding and Jacketing on the Growth and Nutritional Response of Buffalo Heifers Vijayakumar P.*, Dutt Triveni, Pandey H.N., Sastry V.R.B.1, Singh Mukesh Livestock Production Management Division, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122, India. *Reprint request: Dr. P. Vijayakumar, School of Agriculture, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110 068, India, E-mail: vijivet@yahoo.com
1Division of Animal Nutrition, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122, India. Abstract A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of bedding and jacketing on the growth and nutritional response of buffalo heifers. Eighteen Murrah buffalo heifers (20–35 months) were divided into three equal groups viz. T1 - control (without bedding and jacketing), T2 - provided with paddy straw bedding and T3 - provided with bedding and gunny bag jacketing. There was no significant difference in ADG of the heifers among the groups. Animals in T2 consumed more DM through feed (6.92 kg/d) when compared to T1 (6.61 kg/d). Similarly, mean water intake was more in animals under T3 (6.30 L/d) when compared to T2 (6.32 L/d) and T1 (6.02 L/d); however no significant difference was observed among treatment groups. The digestibility coefficients of proximate nutrients were not significantly different among the treatments. The DCP intake (g/kg W0.75) was found to be significantly (P<0.05) higher in T3 group. It was concluded that provision of bedding and jacketing did not affect the growth, feed intake and digestibility of nutrients of buffalo heifers. Top Keywords Buffalo, Heifers, Bedding, Jacketing, Nutrition. Top |