MVSc

with the objective of investigating the feasibility of
the technique of liquid feeding of concentrates to calves
through nipple buckets with and with out incorporation of
blood meal in the ration, 24 calves below one month of age at
Cattle Breeding Farm Thumburmuzhy, Kerala Agricultural
university were randomly allotted to four treatment groups.
The four treatment groups were
Tl - dry feeding and no supplementation of blood meal.
Tz - dry feeding and supplementation with blood meal
T3 - liquid feeding and no supplementation with blood
meal.
T. - liquid feeding .and supplementation with blood
meal.
The dry feeding groups were offered feed in feeding
baskets and the same feed suspended in water was fed to liquid
feeding groups through feeding nipples fixed on aluminium
buckets.
The experiment was conducted during the months of April
to September, 1997 where the temperature Humidity Index values
were above 75 per cent indicating a stressful environment due
to the combined effect of high temperature and high humidity

which adversely affected the growth of calves in all four
treatment groups.
Intakes of water, concentrate and roughage were not
significantly different between treatment groups but liquid
feeding group showed a slightly higher trend on water intake.
There was no significant difference between treatment
groups in terms of live weight gain, body length, height and
chest girth. But the general trend varied for live weight and
chest girth. Body weights were lower in T) and T4 groups where
liquid feeding was resorted to. The dry feeding group had
better chest girth than liquid feeding group which reflected
in their live weight gain also.
Monthly values of haematocrit, haemoglobin, erythrocyte
sedimentation rate, serum glucose, serum cholesterol and
plasma protein were not significantly different between
treatment groups. But treatment groups receiving blood meal
showed slightly higher haemoglobin per cent. The plasma
protein values were slightly higher in groups receiving ration
in dry form which had a higher daily weight gain.
Treatment groups on liquid diet had more episodes of
diarrhea than those on dry diet.

Treatment groups showed no significant difference with
regard to carcass characteristics but the trend indicated
higher meat yield from groups receiving dry feed.
Only during the last two months, i.e., in the fifth and
sixth months when the rumen is somewhat fully developed, some
beneficial effect of liquid mode of feeding was evident.
Liquid feeding through nipple is known to bypass rumen
and in animals with ill developed ~umen, liquid feeding should
show beneficial effects on growth. In the present 'study such
a difference could not be observed possibly due to the fact
that all the rations contained fish meal which has high
content of protein escaping rumen degradation.
The level of 30 per cent replacement of protein by blood
meal showed no retardation in feed intake or growth in the
experimental animals.