Department of Animal Production Technology, Federal College of Wildlife Management, P.M.B. 268, New Bussa, Nigeria; Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Olafadehan, O.A., Department of Animal Production Technology, Federal College of Wildlife Management, P.M.B. 268, New Bussa, Nigeria; Adewumi, M.K., Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Twenty prepartum Bunaji cows with an average weight of 295±3.72 kg balanced for their parity and weight were used to investigate the effects of dry season supplementary feeding during the last trimester of pregnancy on the milk production and economic benefit of such intervention in an on-farm experiment. A completely randomized design was used with 4 treatments: A, range grazing (RG) only (control); B, RG + maize bran (MB); C, RG + MB + PKC (palm kernel cake) and D, RG + MB + DBG (dried brewer's grains). There were 5 cows per treatment. The feeding trial lasted for last trimester of pregnancy while milk production was measured throughout lactation. Supplemented cows produced higher milk (P <0.05) than their non-supplemented counterparts at various stages of lactation; 3months, 6months and weaning. Among the supplemented cows, total milk yield (TMY) was more (P <0.05) pronounced in cows on treatment D than those on treatment B. Yields of milk constituents followed the same trend as the milk yield. TMY was significantly (P< 0.05) and directly related (R2 = 0.97) to the lactation length. Net economic benefit was best in supplemented cows on treatment D and least (P <0.05) for grazing non-supplemented cows on treatment A. The results underscored beneficial effects of strategic supplementation of prepartum cows in a smallholder dairy production system.