The present study was conducted in 20 growing female Mehsana buffalo calves to study the effect of feeding cotton seed cake with the objective to increase growth and blood biochemical profile. Mehsana buffalo calves of 3-6 months of age were randomly divided in two groups on the basis of body weight and age. Group I was control (T1) fed Banasdan (concentrate mixture) whereas, group II (T2) was fed with cottonseed cake @ 700g, 850g and 960g for 1st, 2nd and 3rd month of treatment, respectively in addition to concentrate feed. Both the groups fed green fodder @ 3kg and dry fodder @ 1kg per day throughout the experiment. Body weights of individual calves were recorded at the commencement of the experiment and followed by monthly interval. Blood- biochemical constituents were recorded on day 1 and thereafter on day 90 of experiment period to analyze the changes in blood constituents in T1 and T2 groups. Average daily body weight gain of calves during the experimental period was higher (P less than 0.01) in T2 group as compared to T1 group. The serum glucose level was higher (P less than 0.05) in T1 group than T2 on day 90. The values of serum cholesterol, protein, globulin, ALP, SGOT and SGPT concentration were also significantly (P less than 0.01) higher in T2 group than T1 on day 90. However, the differences for serum albumin, A/G ratio, calcium and phosphorus on day 90 were found to be non-significant whereas metabolic hormone level T3 and T4 were significantly (P less than 0.01) higher in T2 than T1 on day 90. The results are indicative of supplementation of cotton seed cake in addition to Banasdan accelerated the growth, blood biochemical parameters and hormonal levels.
Effect of feeding varying levels of banana peelings supplemented with maize bran, cotton seed cake and Gliricidia sepium on the performance of lactating dairy cows