Study of Intake, Growth and Nutrient Utilization of Growing Bulls Fed Forages as Sole Diets

The study was conducted to rank Napier, jumbo, maize and rice straw on the basis of their yield, production cost, nutritional value and productivity of native growing bulls. Thirty native bulls (Bos indicus) of 135 (+28/-28) kg live weight (LW) were randomly allocated to five treatments in a completely randomized design and fed silage of maize (Zea mays; Hybrid, PG-1000), jumbo (Sorghum bicolor; Hybrid Sugar graze), Napier (Pennisetum perpureum; hybrid) and urea molasses straw of whole straw (UMS-WS) and UMS of stover (UMS-S) for a period of 90 days. The dry matter (DM) intake of Napier, jumbo, maize, UMS-WS and UMS-S was 2.08, 1.79, 2.01, 1.92 and 2.08 % LW, respectively which differed significantly (P<0.01). The DM digestibility of UMS-WS or UMS-S (45.49 and 44.37 %) was significantly (p<0.01) lower than that of Napier, jumbo and maize (50.22, 53.01 and 58.75 %, respectively). The LW gain was greater (p<0.01) in bulls fed maize silage (273.3 g/d) followed by Napier silage (81.4 g/d), UMS-S (75.3 g/d), jumbo silage (39.9 g/d) and UMS-WS (39.6 g/d). Considering the cost of beef production, maize may be ranked on the top followed by Napier, jumbo, UMS-S and UMS-WS, respectively which may be taken in profitable beef production system.