Dejene M., Bediye S., Kehaliw A., Kitaw G., Nesha K.
On-farm evaluation of lactating crossbred (Bos taurus × Bos indicus) dairy cows fed a basal diet of urea treated teff (Eragrostis tef) straw supplemented with escape protein source during the dry season in crop-livestock production system of north Shoa, E
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Holetta Research Center, P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Dejene, M., Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Holetta Research Center, P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Bediye, S., Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Kehaliw, A., Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Holetta Research Center, P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Kitaw, G., Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Holetta Research Center, P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nesha, K., Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Holetta Research Center, P.O.Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
An on-farm study was conducted with crossbred lactating dairy cows, maintained under market oriented mixed farming system at Kuyu district, in north Shoa zone, Ethiopia to assess the effect of feeding intervention diet (4% urea treated teff straw (4kg of urea, 90 liters of water and 10 kg of molasses per 100 kg of teff straw ensiled for 3 weeks) supplemented with a concentrate mixture (linseed cake 48% as source of escape protein; wheat bran 50% and salt 2%)). The assessment was done on chemical composition, IVOMD, feed intake, milk yield, body weight, body condition, profitability and farmers opinion during the dry season. A total of 15 households having two lactating cows per house hold were selected. 30 cows in early to mid lactation with an average body weight of 286.8±55.05 kg were selected and balanced for their parity, stage of lactation, level of milk yield and body condition and divided in to two groups (15 cows per group). 15 cows were fed urea-treated teff straw ad lib as a basal diet supplemented with a concentrate mixture @ 0.35 kg /kg of milk yield/cow/day (T1), and the other 15 cows of one group were maintained as usually practiced by farmers (control) (T2). Urea treatment of teff straw increased the CP content from 4.3 to 8.9% (increased by 107%) and IVOMD by 7.9%, reduced the NDF and hemicellulose contents of teff straw by 6.04% and 26.69% respectively while the ADF, lignin and cellulose contents increased by 8.76%, 23.08% and 6.23%. Feeding urea treated teff straw supplemented with linseed cake based concentrate mixture significantly (P<0.01) increased feed intake, milk yield, live weight gain and body condition score of the cows. Due to the improvement in daily milk yield by 3.48 kg (7.14 vs. 3.66 kg) coupled with a 1.35% cost reduction/ kg of milk produced, the net profit increased from ETB 4.73/cow/day in the control group to ETB 9.39/cow/day in T1 group. This study demonstrated that the intervention diet increased the net profit for farmers to ETB 4.66/cow/day. According to the opinion of participant farmers, the intervention diet improved roughage intake, milk yield and body condition of the cows during the dry season. Feeding urea treated teff straw with bypass protein source was found to be an effective approach to maximize the utilization of locally available feed resources for better animal productivity during the dry season in mixed farming system of Ethiopia.