TY  - BOOK
AU  - Reny K Oommen 
AU  - Thomas C K (Guide)
TI  - Feeding Techniques to Enhance The Growth In Calves
U1  - 636.088 
PY  - 1999///
CY  - Mannuthy 
PB  - Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences 
N2  - 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. 


UR  - http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810103601
ER  -