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Open Access
Copyright: The authors. This article is an open access
article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) which permits unrestricted use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly
cited.
Research
3. Effect
of cobalt supplementation on performance of growing calves -
V. Nagabhushana, K. Sharma, A. K. Pattanaik and Narayan Dutta
Vet World. 2008; 1(10): 299-302
Abstract
The experiment was
conducted to study the effect of critical supplementation of wheat
straw with cobalt on fibre utilization and nutrient utilization in
growing cross-bred male calves. Twenty-one crossbred (HF X Local)
male growing calves of 3-4 months age were fed with wheat straw
based diet consisting without (Co0) and with 1 (Co1) and 6 (Co6)
ppm cobalt as cobaltous chloride. There was no significant
difference in intake of wheat straw, concentrate and DMI between
the three groups and the ratio between concentrate and wheat straw
was maintained at 40:60 irrespective of dietary level of cobalt.
Similarly, average cumulative body weight, net gain in body weight
or feed efficiency did not differ significantly between
treatments. No significant effect was observed on the
digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether
extract and fibre constituents like NDF, ADF, hemicellulose or
cellulose by supplementation of 1 and 6 ppm Co to the diet of
growing calves. Balance of nutrients such as Nitrogen, Calcium and
Phosphorus was similar and positive in all the treatment groups.
TDN and DCP values of the experimental diets remained almost
similar irrespective of dietary level of cobalt.
Keywords:
Cobalt, fibre utilization, calves, Supplementation, Performance.
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